Treason
by sym64
Summary: Lieutenant Smag turns to Steve and tells him with equal parts disdain and disgust in his voice, "Lieutenant Commander McGarrett, you are under arrest for espionage and treason."
1. Chapter 1 - Teaser

**Title: Treason**

**Rating:** T

**Disclaimer:** No they are still not mine. But if they were, I would be willing to share. So, I hope CBS and whoever owns the rights to Five-0 doesn't mind too much me playing around with them. I promise to put them back when I'm done.

**Summary: **Lieutenant Smag turns to Steve and tells him with equal parts disdain and disgust in his voice, "Lieutenant Commander McGarrett, you are under arrest for espionage and treason."

**A/N:** This story has some graphic descriptions of violence, and other disturbing images. You will read about situations that most people would find 'uncomfortable'. If you like to have injuries, abuse, torture and the repercussions of violent and sexual acts sugar-coated… then this story is NOT for you. I don't look at people through rose tinted glasses, they have flaws, they curse and they make mistakes. If that is not your thing… well, you have been warned.

Please don't think too much about the timeline of this story. Some of it happened seven months ago, shortly before 2x22. The lapsed time after the finale and before season three was not explained on the show, and I'm not even trying to do so. Just assume 3x05 is about seven months later, like right now. That is where this story is set.

**Thank you:** The biggest and loudest shout-out to the two best betas anyone could hope for. Cokie316 and Sherry57!

You two are the best thing that happened to me this year. And you know I'm not talking about your incredible beta work. Thank you, my friends.

* * *

**Treason – Chapter 01 – Teaser**

_**Five-0 Headquarter, Monday 1100 hours**_

"Steven! So nice of you to grace us with your presence. Where the hell have you been?" Detective Danny Williams calls out to his partner as soon as Steve walks through the double glass doors of their office space.

"What do you mean?" Steve looks in irritation at his friend and can see that Chin and Kono have the same question on their lips. "I told you I would be a little late today."

"A little late? This is not a little late, Steven. And where the heck have you been all weekend? I called you at least ten times and I didn't even get your voice-mail." It doesn't appear that Danny will slow down with his interrogation any time soon. "I was this close to sending out the search party," Danny tells him.

"Aw, Danny, so good to know you care," Steve tells his friend with a roll of his eyes. "We had the weekend off, remember? I took a little vacation."

"Vacation? You? And what, it was a secret, you couldn't tell us before you vanished?"

"What's the matter with you Danny? We all took off early on Friday; you didn't tell me what you were planning for the weekend either. I can't take a couple of days off without telling you about how I plan to spend every minute?" Steve shakes his head at his second in command, smiling, but thinks that he will need to be more careful in the future.

"Okay, fine. So what _**did**_ you do?" Danny wasn't giving up.

"What is this? Twenty questions? If you must know, I took a trip. I went camping."

"Alone?"

"Yes, Danny, alone. Just me, a sleeping bag and the wild. Anything else you'd like to know?"

Kono can't quite suppress a little giggle, imagining her boss traipsing through the jungle and loving every second of it. Even Chin has to smile, but more about Danny's look of horror at the prospect of someone choosing to hike through the jungle. For fun. Chin almost laughs out loud when Danny shudders just a little.

"You are nuts. This seals the deal. What person in his right mind wanders through the jungle…"

"Hey, brah, think before you keep talking," Kono warns him.

One look at her shows Danny that she would have gladly gone on that hike through the jungle. "You are both nuts," Danny mutters under his breath, but smiles at their collective laughter.

Their friendly banter is interrupted by six armed men entering the bullpen. Five of them are obviously some kind of military police, they are big guys and they don't look like they are here to talk. The one leading them is a lieutenant, and he's the one who speaks.

"Lieutenant Commander Steven McGarrett?" He addresses Steve and stops a couple of feet in front of him, while the others take position to the side and behind Steve. Effectively separating him from his teammates.

"Yes. What's this about?"

"Commander, you are under arrest," the lieutenant tells Steve and the shocked team.

Before anyone can even react, Steve is grabbed and pushed into the table. His arms are twisted behind his back and he can't quite keep the groan in when the edge of the table presses painfully into a rather sensitive spot of his lower body while his head connects not so gently with the table surface.

Steve is disarmed and handcuffed in seconds, but they make no move to release him from this very uncomfortable position. On the contrary, one of them pushes a little harder, eliciting another groan from Steve.

"Hey!" Danny calls out and steps closer to his friend, who is obviously hurting. "Let him go!"

He comes face to face with one of the MAs and is stopped from getting any closer to Steve.

"Detective, stay back. All of you. The commander is under arrest and will be taken into custody," Lt. Smag tells them and tries to keep control over the situation. He doesn't like the rough handling of the commander, but he also knows that he's a dangerous man. Still, he prefers to handle every prisoner with respect and not hurt them. "Help the commander up," he orders his men to get Steve up from his painful position.

Steve breathes a sigh of relief when the almost unbearable pressure on his lower belly lessens once he's upright again. He tries to ignore the beginning headache and throbbing below his belt. Steve is sure that he will have a bruise on his left temple where he connected with the table. He looks down and is amazed that the screen doesn't have a crack in it.

"Are you alright?" Danny has stepped back but looks at his friend with a critical eye.

"I'm good, Danny."

"Sure, you're good." Now it's Danny's turn to roll his eyes. He turns to the Lieutenant. "Why is he being arrested?"

"I'm not at liberty to tell."

"Commander McGarrett has the right to know what he's accused of. Even you Navy guys should know that," Danny can't help himself, even though he knows he's probably not doing his friend any favors by getting aggressive.

Lieutenant Smag looks at Danny and obviously comes to a conclusion. "Fine." He then turns to Steve and tells him with equal parts disdain and disgust in his voice, "Lieutenant Commander McGarrett, you are under arrest for espionage and treason."

Steve looks at his teammates and can see that they are stunned into silence. He knew that it was just a matter of time before this happened. He just wishes his friends weren't witness to it. He tries to smile at them, but it is more of a grimace, fueled by the situation and the pain that is now hammering in his head.

"It will be alright, Danny. I don't know when I'll be allowed to have contact again. Please inform the Governor. Chin, you're in command, but I know you will work together." Steve looks at Danny, his 'unofficial' second in command, but since Chin outranks him, he will be the 'outward' leader during his absence.

"Of course, Steve," Chin assures him. They will work as a team, just like always.

Kono hasn't said a word yet, she still seems to be in shock.

They all watch in silence as Steve is escorted out of headquarters to be transported to the Naval Brig at the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.

H50 – H50 – H50

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TBC on Thursday


	2. Chapter 2 Getting started

I must say I'm blown away by the response to the short little teaser that was chapter 1.

**Thank you all so much for your kind words. You have no idea what it means to me that so many of you took the time to write a review.** Also a thank you to everyone I couldn't respond to because they didn't sign in. I also appreciate all the people who didn't leave a review. And I like to encourage everyone who reads a story to leave a few words. Constructive criticism is more than welcomed. So, if you liked something, or didn't, for that matter, let the writers know. I know I am always grateful to hear from you. And I'm sure most others are too.

I won't have much time on Thursday, so you'll get the chapter today. Besides it's almost Thursday at my place anyway.

One more thing and we're almost done with the A/N.

Just a quick note to a guest reviewer about Danny being the second in command. We don't have an official statement that says that Danny is, in fact, the second in command. So your guess is as good as mine. We all just assume that Danny is Steve's second in command, but we don't know it.

One question though, what kind of logic is it that Chin wasn't a cop when Five-0 was founded, therefore, he can't be second in command? Excuse me? Steve wasn't a cop either; he still isn't, and he never will be. But despite that he is the boss of all of them.

And it's a simple fact that Chin, as a Police _Lieutenant_ outranks Danny, the Police _Detective_. I base my assumption that Chin will be the 'outward' boss simply on rank. And on the fact that in episode 2.20 (the Max Bergman one) Max asks him to reopen the case. And it is Chin, who makes that decision. In my opinion, Danny is the unofficial boss during Steve's absence, but in the hierarchy of Five-0, it is Chin.

But quite frankly, it is really not important. So, calm down and enjoy the ride… or not.

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**Treason – Chapter 02 - Getting started  
**

_**Navy Brig, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii**_

Steve has never felt this humiliated in his entire life. Yes, he has been through this process before when he was arrested for the murder of Governor Jameson. But that had been very different. Back then he was still treated with respect, now… not so much.

He is escorted into an empty room and is left alone for a few minutes. Behind a huge window in the wall to the right Steve can see a doctor's office. He knows that he has to go through a physical before he can be further processed and get to a cell. It's part of the booking process.

A short time later four guards, armed with tasers and batons, enter and take position in the four corners of the room. Two more people enter, and one look at their gloved hands doesn't bode well.

"Commander, we're going to take the cuffs off now, and we advise you not to try anything," one of them tells Steve.

Steve looks at the guards and he is sure they are just waiting for him to even blink the wrong way. He nods to the man in front of him and has no intention of making his situation any worse.

The cuffs are taken off and he massages his sore wrists. He can already see some swelling and redness, they had been very tight. Steve watches the two unarmed guys stepping back and wonders what's going to happen next.

"Take off your clothes, Commander. Start with your boots and socks," the one who is dangling the handcuffs is telling him.

Steve complies without saying a word. He crouches down and unties the laces on his boots. A moment later he stands barefoot on the cold tiles.

"Now take the rest off."

Steve takes his time removing first his button down shirt and then the tee. Next the pants find their way onto the growing pile of his clothes.

"All of your clothes, McGarrett," the guard tells him and motions to his briefs.

Steve reluctantly complies with that order as well. He is standing in front of the guards just like the day he was born and waits for further instructions.

"Turn around and put your hands behind your back."

"What?" Steve doesn't believe his ears. They want to cuff him again? Cuffing him while being naked and processed is against Navy protocol.

"Turn around, Commander. I'm not telling you again."

"Why?" Steve looks at the four guards taking a step closer, "Whoa, guys, hold up…" Steve raises his hands to show that he has no intention of getting into any trouble with them.

Unfortunately one of them doesn't see it that way and interprets Steve's raised arms as an attack. Or maybe he is just trigger happy, one will never know. But it makes no difference to Steve.

"Arghhhh," Steve falls down immediately after three darts from the Taser gun embed in his naked flesh. His knees contact hard with the unforgiving floor and all his muscles contract painfully, rendering him helpless. He's lying on the floor, still twitching when his arms are twisted behind his back. One of the guards kneels on Steve's bare back and presses his head down with the baton while the other refastens the cuffs tightly around his wrists.

Next he is roughly flipped onto his back, his shoulders and wrists screaming in protest when his weight lands on them. The three darts are ripped out of his thigh and belly with one tug, after they had been pushed deep into his flesh when he was pressed into the floor. He can feel something warm trickle down onto the floor.

Steve feels completely exposed and sick to his stomach, his head aches mercilessly from being forcibly pushed onto the tiles. After hitting the table at HQ and now the deck, he feels dizzy and his vision is slightly graying. From a great distance he hears a loud voice.

"What the hell is going on here?" Lt. Phil Denver comes into the room and after seeing the naked bleeding man on the floor with four guards standing ready to pounce on him again, takes charge immediately. "Petty Officer, explain this right now! Why is the commander cuffed and injured?"

"We were just getting him ready for the medical examination, he was combative, so we had to subdue him," the petty officer in charge tells the lieutenant.

"You are aware that this room has video surveillance and I could take a look at what really happened? You want to try that explanation again?" Denver motions to two of the guards and gives his next orders. "Help the commander to his feet, and take those handcuffs off. Right now!"

The two sailors are quick to follow the order, and it only takes a minute for Steve to be back on his feet. And to be free of the handcuffs. Steve is handed boxer shorts and a tee shirt.

"Commander, are you alright? Do you need help to get dressed?" Lt. Denver, asks with worry in his voice. He is the doctor who Steve is supposed to see for the mandatory physical examination before even getting near a cell.

"Ah… no, I'm good," Steve feels a bit shaky but has no problem putting on the boxers and a tee. "Thank you."

"Commander, do you want to press charges? I won't tolerate any abuse of detainees on my watch," Lt. Denver tells Steve and looks at the four guards and the petty officer, who he will discipline later.

"No… it was just a misunderstanding," Steve knows it wouldn't be in his best interest to press charges. If they have video footage, he is sure there will be consequences anyway. After all he didn't attack anyone.

"Very well. Petty Officer, take Commander McGarrett to the exam room."

"Yes, Sir."

Steve is led to the adjoining room and told to sit on the examination bed in the middle of the room. He does and looks down at the already slightly blood soaked boxers. The three puncture wounds are not just bleeding, but they also smart. He looks around for something to put on the still bleeding wounds, but there is nothing that is not under lock and key. So he just sits on the gurney-like bed and waits for the doctor to come back.

His head still hurts, but he's not dizzy or sick anymore. Steve has the suspicion that the ill feeling from before had more to do with the situation than with a head injury.

A minute later Lt. Denver enters and it's clear that he obviously had a few words with the guards. "Petty Officer, you can wait outside now. I'll call you when we're done."

"Sir, but…"

"That will be all, Petty Officer." It was clear that this was not open for discussion.

"Yes, Sir. I'll be right outside."

Steve watches the guard leave and wonders what to expect next.

"Commander, I'm sorry for how you were treated. We're all a little on edge, just yesterday a guard was seriously injured by a prisoner. That is no excuse for what happened to you, but I want you to know that is not the norm."

"I understand," Steve tells the doctor, and he really means it. He does understand. They only received the information a former SEAL is being brought in for crimes against the country…_**their country. **_They only saw a traitor who betrayed everything they stand for. It's clear to him that he can't expect any sympathy, not from them and not from anyone else in the brig.

"Now let's take a look at those bleeding wounds first," Lt. Denver motions for Steve to lay down and gets the needed supplies out of a locked cabinet. "I'm sorry, but I think it's best to take the soaked underwear off, I'll give you something clean to wear when we're done."

It only takes ten minutes for Steve to be patched up and dressed back in clean clothes. The doctor did a pretty good job and now Steve is sporting a 3 by 3 inch band-aid on his lower belly and a lovely bandage around his upper thigh. The two darts that hit him there did quite a bit of damage. A lot more damage than on his belly. The two puncture wounds are deep and were still bleeding when Phil Denver cleaned them. The big one he closed with two stitches. The most damage was probably done when the darts were ripped out.

"You have quite a bruise on your temple, that didn't happen just now. What happened?" the doctor asks as he takes a closer look at Steve's head injury. "Please follow my finger."

"I hit my head this morning," Steve tells the doc as he follows his instructions.

"You're having a little trouble focusing. Do you have double, or blurry vision?" Denver asks as he gets a penlight out.

"No, not anymore. I feel fine."

"Hmm, I doubt that. But I'll let it slide. You don't present the classic symptoms of a concussion but a look at your eyes tells me enough. Your reaction is very slow and you can't focus. That is enough for me to send you to the infirmary for observation. That means no interrogation until I declare you fit for it. You can have your lawyer visit though."

"I haven't called JAG yet," Steve informs Lt. Denver.

"Why not?"

"I haven't been granted a phone call yet. But they will be informed anyway, I don't have to call them." Steve knows that someone from JAG should be here soon. It's not like he's accused of a petty crime. With espionage and treason he will probably face the death penalty, or at least life in prison. But he knew the risks from the beginning.

"Okay. You have any questions, Commander?"

"No. I know what to expect next. Thank you for helping me."

"I will see you again tomorrow. Good luck, Commander."

Steve only nods at him. He watches him leave and a minute later two guards enter. They bring him a jumpsuit and shoes. _Well, at least it's not orange this time_, Steve thinks as he takes the light blue suit and matching shoes.

Five minutes later he is fully dressed again and led out of the doctor's office to be escorted to the next station in his journey of becoming an inmate.

H50 – H50 – H50

_**Five-0 Headquarters**_

Detective Danny Williams has been pacing ever since the beginning of his held call with the governor. Which means he's been pacing around the smart table for over five minutes now.

"Danny! Stop it. You're driving me nuts. Stop running around," Kono speaks up for the second time since he started his wandering around the table.

"I just need to do something. Why the hell isn't he taking our call? What's more important than the fact that the head of Five-0 was arrested?" Danny is getting impatient, the waiting is getting on his nerves.

"Detective Williams?" Governor Denning's voice can be heard over the speaker phone.

"Sir, thank you for taking my call" Danny says, but rolls his eyes at the same time. "Sir, you're on speaker with Officer Kalakaua and Lt. Kelly."

"That's good. Detective I just got off the phone with Captain Rodgers. He was not willing to give me many details, but told me that they have overwhelming evidence against Commander McGarrett."

"Evidence of what, Sir?"

"That he has been meeting with known terrorists several times in the last seven months. The last such meeting happened this weekend 10 miles north of Oahu. They have surveillance pictures and audio tapes of the meeting. Commander McGarrett will be charged with treason for selling highly sensitive information to an enemy of the United States."

"Sir, that is ridiculous. Steve would never do something like that," Danny tells the Governor with conviction. He knows his friend. "Sir, Commander McGarrett would never betray his country, his uniform or his honor. He has fought for years for this country, Sir, he is not a traitor. Never."

"Detective… Danny… it honors you that you believe so strongly in your friend. But the captain assured me that their evidence will hold in court without any doubt. I… I don't believe the commander is guilty until it is proven. As long as that doesn't happen he will remain my head of the task force. I'm sure McGarrett arranged for one of you to be in charge during his absence?"

"Yes, Sir, he did."

"Good. I expect to hear from you."

"Yes, Sir, of course. As soon as I talk to McGarrett," Danny assures the Governor to keep him informed.

After a quick goodbye Danny looks at Chin and Kono, "Do you believe any of that?"

"No, I don't. But we should look at what they have against him. Maybe he was set up," Chin doesn't believe Steve would betray his country, but he's also sure the Navy wouldn't act without evidence.

"We need to talk to McGarrett. Danny, you should call Catherine. Maybe she knows something," Kono suggests. "And we should probably tell Doris."

"Cath is not here, she's at a seminar in San Diego. Steve told me she will be back on Wednesday. He didn't want to admit it, but he's been missing her big time the last week." Danny has to smile despite the situation when he thinks about his partners 'not-girlfriend'. "I'll call his mom after I talk to Steve."

"Okay. While you go to the Naval base, Kono and I will see if we can 'investigate' Steve."

"No, Chin. You can't. We still have a job to do. We need to finish up the bank job first. You talk to the bank people again, I'll catch up with you after I talk to Steve. Let's finish that up and then we can concentrate on this mess," Danny doesn't like it, but they are still Five-0 and they have to finish their current case first.

H50 – H50 – H50

Two hours later Danny is still not any closer to seeing his friend. When he arrived at the Navy Brig he was told that he couldn't talk to Commander McGarrett since he was just then being processed.

"Detective Williams?" A young lieutenant calls from behind the counter that is closed off from the waiting room by thick glass walls.

"Yes, that's me," Danny stands from his uncomfortable chair and walks over to the counter to talk to the lieutenant again. "Can I see Commander McGarrett now?"

"I'm sorry, Sir. I just received the information that Commander McGarrett was transferred to the infirmary. Visitors are not allowed in there."

"What? Why is he in the infirmary? He was okay when he left the office and brought here. What the hell happened?"

"I don't know, Detective. It seems that there was an incident where he was injured. It says here that he is allowed to see his lawyer. If you like I can ask if you could see him as well?"

"Yes, please can you do that? I would really appreciate it," Danny tells the lieutenant.

"Okay, it might take a while though."

"Thank you."

Danny makes his way back over to the row of seats and sits back down. He has to wait another hour until he is finally allowed to see his friend. It's been almost seven hours since Steve was arrested at HQ.

Danny is led through various hallways until they reach what looks like a small hospital wing. His 'guard' stops in front of the second door on the left. "You are not allowed to have any physical contact. You are also not allowed to give anything to the prisoner. And your visit will be monitored. Any questions?"

"No."

"You have five minutes," the guard tells Danny as he unlocks the door.

H50 – H50 – H50

Steve looks up when the door is opened and is not happy to see Danny. He was hoping that Danny would not be allowed to see him. Well, now he has to deal with it.

"Danny. How did you manage to get in here?" Steve asks as his friend steps closer to the bed Steve is sitting on.

"They gave me five minutes. What happened, are you okay?" Danny looks at the dark bruise that has formed on the side of his partner's head.

"I'm okay. Did you talk to Denning?"

"Yeah, he said you're still the boss until you're found guilty. Steve, we will find out who is framing you. We will get the people who set you up," Danny assures his friend.

"Danny, don't. Listen to me." When he has Danny's undivided attention, Steve looks him in the eyes. "Please don't get involved. You will only get in trouble."

"What the hell are you talking about? Of course we're involved. We will clear your name, Steve. And we won't rest until we find out who set you up," Danny tells his friend.

"Danny… I was not set-up."

"What?"

"You heard me," Steve tells him softly.

"What do you mean?"

"That I'm guilty as charged. Of espionage and treason."

H50 – H50 – H50

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_**Thank you all for reading. So, any guesses about what the heck is going on? ;-)**_

_**Next chapter will be up next week. Until then...**_


	3. Chapter 3 - On the move

_**Thank you all so much for reading and even more so for taking the time to post a review. I normally respond to everyone individually (as long as you have logged in), in case I have missed anyone this week, please know that I appreciate every single post from all of you.**_

_**Now on with the story. I hope you will enjoy it. Next chapter in five to seven days.**_

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**Treason – Chapter 03 - On the move**

_**Infirmary, Navy Brig, Tuesday 0500 hours**_

Steve fell asleep late at night, long after Danny was gone. Seeing the shock on his friend's face hurt him more than Steve would have ever imagined. He lay awake for many hours thinking about losing his best friend over what he had done. Even though Danny has no idea yet what Steve had really done. At some point exhaustion won and Steve fell into a restless sleep.

From which he now awakes with a start. He falls back onto the mattress with a groan. Fierce pain is lancing through his head and chest and cold sweat covers Steve's whole body; making him shiver. His hands are trembling and he has trouble taking a deep breath. His heart is racing and feels like it is beating out of his chest.

A moment later the lights are turned on and he squints against the harsh lights that threaten to make his head explode. Another groan escapes and he tries to sit up to breathe easier, but the movement causes an overwhelming pain in his chest. He cries out and falls back, arching his back in the hope to alleviate the pressure on his upper body. He feels like he is being crushed.

"Commander! What's wrong?" Steve hears someone calling out to him.

"Can't… can't breathe… chest… head… pain," he barely manages to get out.

Steve's breathing is down to a wheezing and he is just moments from passing out. An oxygen mask is placed over his nose and mouth, and it brings instant relief. At least it helps him breathe a little easier. But it doesn't help with the intense pain in his head and chest.

"Commander, you need to try to relax."

Steve becomes aware that at some point, his hands had grabbed the bed rails with a death grip and the whole bed is shaking from his trembling. His body is shaking like he's having a seizure. Steve feels the headrest being put into an almost upright position which helps some more with his breathing, but increases the pain in his head a great deal.

"Commander, you need to let go of the bed rail. Come on, let go. That's good."

A moment after he let go of the rail, Steve feels a prick on the back of his hand when the nurse inserts a needle for an IV. Soon he feels something cold entering his system making his racing heart slow down a little, but not much. He still feels like it is going way too fast.

"Tony, get the crash cart, just in case. His BP is all over the place and his heart rate is still over one fifty." A new voice is talking, but Steve can't make out any faces. His vision is blurry and gray around the edges. He knows he's close to passing out again. Steve startles a little when his tee shirt is cut and taken off him. Sticky electrodes are attached to his chest and a moment later he can hear the sound of the heart monitor.

"His chart says he was tased yesterday afternoon. Maybe this is a late reaction?" Voice number one says.

"That would be damn late. Go and see if Lt. Denver is already on the base; he treated him yesterday," voice number two says. Steve still can't make out more than blurry shapes, but he can breathe a little better and it seems that his heart rate is slowing down a bit more. The pain in his head is at a new level though and is causing his eyes to water. It feels like his brain is trying to break free from the cranium. "Commander, I'm Dr. Epson. I'm going to help you, just try to calm down, okay?"

"Jeff? What's going on?" Finally a voice he recognizes, Lt. Denver.

"I don't know, he complained about severe pain in his head and chest. A few minutes ago he couldn't breathe and was just short of a cardiac arrest. His heart rate is down from one eighty to now one forty. I'm just getting an EKG. Maybe a late reaction to the electro shock from yesterday?"

"Highly unlikely," Denver tells his colleague and turns to Steve. "Commander, can you hear me? Please open your eyes for me."

Steve hasn't even realized that he had closed them. He opens his eyes and looks at his doctor from yesterday. "Head hurts... and my chest," he says through the foggy oxygen mask.

"I promise you will feel better in a minute." He injects something into the IV port and turns back to Jeff Epson, "what does the reading say?" He motions to the EKG printout.

"The waves are perfectly normal, except that it is beating way too fast. He's down to one thirty now. I don't understand, what the heck's wrong with him?"

"I'm not sure," Denver says as he takes a closer look at Steve who has his eyes closed again. "Commander, open your eyes again."

"Hurts," Steve groans out but opens his eyes again. Only to immediately cry out in pain. His hands fly to his head and a second later he lies completely still.

"Commander! Steve, come on, open your eyes." Lt. Denver gently lifts first the left and then the right eyelid and curses at what he sees. "Damn, his pupil's blown. We have to get him to Tripler right now. This looks like intracranial bleeding."

After Steve passed out there is a flurry of activity around him. He is transferred to a gurney and not even five minutes later placed into an ambulance to get to Tripler Army Medical Center which is much better equipped to treat such a serious injury.

H50 – H50 – H50

"Steve! Steve, come on, wake up." Lt. Denver gently shakes his patient.

"Ugh, g'way," Steve tries to get away from the annoying voice, but it's no use.

"No can do, buddy, come on open your eyes." Denver looks down at Steve who is still a bit out of it. "Are you with me?"

"Aw man, what the hell did you give me? I feel like shit," Steve says without actually opening his eyes.

"I had to make it look real, sorry. Steve, please look at me."

Steve opens his eyes and looks at the blurry version of Phil Denver. "What the…" Steve rubs his right eye and blinks a few times, "I can't see. Phil, I can't see."

"It's okay, don't panic. It will wear off in a couple of hours, don't worry, okay? As soon as the pupil is back to normal your sight in the right eye will be just fine. I promise." Lt. Denver tries to calm Steve down, who is rather agitated discovering he isn't able to see with his right eye. "How do you feel?"

"Like I've run a marathon. Was that really necessary? I thought I'd die there for a minute," Steve says as he looks around the ambulance.

"That was the plan. How bad is your head?" Phil knows that the pain from the drugs will linger for a few hours at least.

"Hurts… I feel really shaky."

"That's what you get for faking a heart attack and bleeding in the brain," Phil tells him with a grin. "You should feel better in a few hours. I assure you there will be no long term consequences."

"So, it went according to plan?"

"Yeah, everything is in place. We should be there in a few minutes. Are you ready to do this?"

"I'm ready," Steve says and to emphasize his words he sits up on the gurney. He tilts a little to the side when dizziness hit him as soon as he's vertical. He takes a few deep breaths and motions to the clothes next to Phil. "Those for me?"

Steve is just done with changing into a pair of gray cargo pants and a tee shirt when the ambulance comes to a halt.

H50 – H50 – H50

Danny Williams continues to follow the ambulance that left the base five minutes ago. He had been shocked when he saw his friend being loaded into the military ambulance which had taken off with siren and lights on.

He had arrived on the base this early in hopes of talking to the JAG lawyer assigned to Steve's case. When Steve told him last night that he was guilty of the crimes he was charged with, Danny was shocked. He had left his friend without another word. A move which he now regrets.

After thinking it over during a sleepless night, he has come to the conclusion that there must be a reason that Steve wants him to believe he betrayed his country. Danny has no idea what that might be, but he sure as hell will find out.

Danny lets himself fall back a little when the ambulance turns off the lights and sirens and leaves the highway. Five minutes later they enter a deserted pier at the harbor. Danny stops his car behind a stack of containers and takes cover behind a few smaller containers nearer to the stopped ambulance.

Danny only has to wait a few more moments for the driver to get out the bus and open the back door. He can see Steve, who is leaning on a guy in uniform and they both make their way out of the ambulance. It looks like Steve is not very steady on his feet. But he is dressed in his normal attire and Danny can clearly see that he is armed.

For the first time, Detective Williams is not sure what to do. Stay in hiding and watch what is unfolding or go and confront his partner about what is going on? That decision is quickly taken out of his hand by the arrival of a speed boat.

H50 – H50 – H50

Steve can hear the boat before he can even see it. The sun is still not up, so visibility is not the best.

Steve hates what he is about to do, but there is no other way. He has to get rid of Phil and the driver. The three guys from the speed boat are coming closer and Steve greets them with a wave of his hand.

He then turns back to Phil, "I'm sorry." Steve draws his gun and fires two shots point blank at Phil and not even a second later at the driver. Both men go down. "I'm sorry," Steve whispers again with a look at the growing pool of blood.

After a second of complete silence all hell breaks loose. It starts with Danny yelling, "Five-0! Freeze. All of you!"

Steve turns around and is shocked to see his friend standing not even fifty feet from him. Danny's gun is trained on him. _Shit!_

Steve knows this will end in disaster and Danny getting hurt is the last thing he wants. He should have known that Danny would not listen to him and back off. He should have known that Danny would try to figure out what was going on. But seeing him here is still a shock.

But he has no time to think about it any more; his 'associates' open fire on Danny. It's time to take action. Steve fires in Danny's direction, making sure to aim wide and to not even hit the container Danny is taking cover behind. His vision is still a little blurry and he only has the use of one eye, so he makes damn sure not to hit anything near Danny. A ricochet bullet would be just as deadly as a direct hit.

A couple seconds later he unites with the three guys from the speed boat, "Let's get out of here." Steve yells at them as he motions for them to hurry back to the boat.

They reach the edge of the pier where the first guy already has jumped down onto the jetty where their boat is moored. Steve turns around to fire his last round in Danny's direction to make him keep staying under cover. Unfortunately for him, the other two guys don't aim wide but try to hit Danny, so he is returning fire.

It feels like time stands still. Steve feels the bullet hit him in the left shoulder, throwing him off balance, making him lose his footing and fall back down to the jetty. Where he lands with a loud thud. But not before he sees the shocked look on Danny's face; a look he will probably never forget.

Steve feel hands grabbing him and dragging him over to the boat, unceremoniously dropping him to the floor. The fall from the pier adds to his already weakened state. Steve has trouble breathing; all air had been pushed out by the impact onto his back. The fall was only about three, maybe four feet, but that was enough to leave him breathless and bruised. The pain in his shoulder starts just about now and he's pretty sure the bullet did not go through. He can feel the warm blood soaking the front of his shirt, and the sounds around him are muffled. Steve groans when one of the guys presses a cloth onto his shoulder to stop the bleeding.

The same guy lifts him up to look for an exit wound, but as he had already feared, there isn't one. Steve is lowered to the deck again and the pressure on the wound increases a bit more. The pain in his head combined with the pain now in his shoulder is finally too much to handle and Steve gives in to the darkness that has been beckoning him the last minutes.

H50 – H50 – H50

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_**NOW the story can begin... see you next week. And yes, I'm prepared to take your yelling. So, let me hear it.**_


	4. Chapter 4 What's going on?

**Thank you all so much for reading. Now, on with the story...**

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**Treason – Chapter 04 – What's going on?**

Danny Williams races to the edge of the pier as soon as the last guy disappeared from sight and he hears the roaring of the twin engines. But he could only watch the boat as it left speeding from the harbor. The boat is completely black and he can't see any name or signs on it.

Danny can still see his friend falling off the pier, hit by his bullet. _Oh God, I shot Steve._ He can't say where the bullet hit exactly, but it was either upper chest or shoulder. Both places would be equally bad. _Idiot, every place on the body is bad to be hit by a bullet,_ Danny can hear himself yelling in his head.

The detective turns to check on the two guys Steve killed. Danny pauses for a second thinking back to the moment his whole world had changed. The moment his best friend killed two Navy guys in cold blood.

Although what he sees upon turning back to the crime scene makes him stop in his tracks. The guy Steve shot first is walking towards him, with a furious expression on his face. His shirt is soaked in blood, but he doesn't seem to be affected by it at all. Danny can also see the second guy leaning against the ambulance.

"What the hell were you doing?" Lt. Denver yells at Danny as he gets closer. "You idiot, you shot Commander McGarrett!"

"What the heck! Who the hell are you? And what the hell is going on?" Danny yells right back, not caring that the 'dead' guy is right in his face. It dawns on Danny that he obviously stumbled right into the middle of a staged escape.

"I'm Lt. Phil Denver, Steve's handler."

"Steve's what?" Danny looks at the man before him. He now sees that he's wearing a khaki uniform, and that he's with the medical corps.

"I'm his contact during his undercover mission. Which you just put in jeopardy. Seven months of work down the drain. Congratulations Detective Williams, great job." Denver shakes his head and turns to go back to his partner who is still leaning against the ambulance.

Danny follows him, wondering what is really going on. It's obvious now that Steve is on some kind of mission, which angers Danny. Angers him, because he had no clue about any of it. His so called partner and best friend hasn't said a single word to him. Not one word during the last few months.

"Jake, are you alright?" Lt. Denver takes a closer look at his partner, who is still trying to catch his breath after being hit in the vest from point blank range.

"I'm good. Who is this?" Jake motions to Danny who is standing back a bit.

"Detective Williams, Steve's partner from Five-0."

"Ah, great. Didn't Steve tell you to stay out of this?" Jake doesn't seem happy to see Danny either, and by now Danny has had enough of their attitude.

"You two better tell me right now what is going on, or I'll have you arrested for feigning commission of a crime. Start talking now." Danny's voice is shaking in fury and he has a hard time not yelling at them.

"Detective, it's you who should hope that you won't get arrested for interfering with a Naval Intelligence investigation," Lt. Denver tells Danny. But seeing the confusion and worry in Danny's eyes, he softens his words, "Listen, I know this is a lot to take in. And shooting your friend probably didn't go down so well either. I'm sure Captain Rogers will fill you in… now that you are involved. Do us all a favor and go to your HQ, we will meet you there in a couple of hours." Denver looks at the detective and hopes he will follow his request. "We still have to get this show on the road. Steve is depending on us. I just hope he's not too seriously injured and is able to perform his job. Please, Detective, for your friend's sake, do as I say."

Danny contemplates his words for a moment, but must agree with him. He can't do much here without knowing what is going on. So he runs his hands over his face and into his hair before grudgingly agreeing, "You better show up at headquarters."

"I give you my word. Call your team, and we will fill you in."

"Okay," Danny says and hopes that he's doing the right thing. He looked one last time out to the harbor basin where Steve disappeared before making his way back to his car.

H50 – H50 – H50

_**Five-0 Headquarter, 0730 hours**_

"Danny!" Chin Ho Kelly calls from the double glass door he and Kono just came through. "What happened?" Chin can see that his friend is clearly distraught. Danny is pacing and it looks like he is talking to himself.

Chin and Kono have seen Danny in all kinds of states and they know that he always wears his worry on the outside. But they have never seen him this agitated before.

"Danny, did something happen to Steve?" Kono can think of only two people that would make Danny looking so riled up. Either something happened to his daughter, or his partner did something incredibly stupid. And at the moment, her money is on Steve.

Danny looks up when his team mates approach him. For short of an hour he has been thinking about how to tell them. How to tell them that he shot their boss, his best friend. He still hasn't come up with something that doesn't sound as bad as he is feeling right now.

"Danny?" Chin softly asks when Danny doesn't say anything.

"I… I shot Steve."

"What?" Chin and Kono ask at the same time.

"I shot Steve."

"You better start from the beginning, brah, you're not making any sense," Chin tells his friend.

"Okay… okay," Danny says and takes a few deep breaths to calm down. "Yesterday I saw Steve. I'm sorry I didn't report back to you, but what he said… and… he said he wasn't set up. That he was guilty."

"That is ridiculous, Danny. Steve would never…"

"I know that, Kono. Believe me… I know. I thought about it all night, he said to not get involved, to let it rest." Danny looks at Kono and Chin and can see that they don't believe that Steve would ever do something like betraying his country. "This morning I thought I would go to the base really early to talk to his lawyer, you know? Yesterday no one wanted to tell me when someone would come, so I figured I would wait for him, or her, whatever."

"Okay, so you were at the base at…"

"Around six. I just got out of my car and was on the way to the infirmary," Danny sees the startled looks and realizes that he hasn't told them about Steve getting injured during booking. "Steve got hurt while he was being processed, but he was fine when I left last night. But this morning, he was wheeled out to a waiting ambulance… he looked awful, with an oxygen mask on and clearly unconscious. I don't know what happened, and before I could do anything, they drove off with lights and sirens."

"It must be serious if they transferred him," Kono interrupts.

"That's what I thought. A few minutes into the drive they turned off the siren and left the highway and turned towards the harbor. I followed them."

"Why didn't you call us?"

"I should have, I just… I don't really know." Danny really has no idea why he didn't call the cousins or at least for back-up by HPD. "They stopped at a deserted pier, the driver got out and then Steve and the doctor stepped out of the bus. Steve was really shaky and leaning on one of them. Then a speedboat arrived, and Steve… he shot the two men. He just shot them, point blank."

"What? Danny, what are you saying? That he killed them?"

"That's what it looked like, yeah. I came out of hiding then and told all of them to freeze…"

"All of them? Who else was there?" Kono again interrupts.

"The three guys from the speedboat. They opened fire on me… and I took cover behind the containers. Steve also shot at me." Danny pauses and thinking back now, he realizes that none of Steve's shots were even near him. Steve had made sure not to hit him. "They ran to their boat but kept firing… so I shot back. They were at the edge of the pier and I fired at them… Steve moved… and… God… I hit him… I swear I didn't mean to…"

"Where did you hit him?" Chin softly asks.

"Left shoulder or upper chest, I'm not sure. It all happened so fast. He fell back, down onto the jetty. They grabbed him and were gone before I could do anything else."

"Okay. Danny it was not your fault…"

"Kono! I shot Steve. Do you get that? I shot him."

"Calm down, brah. This is not helping. You didn't mean to, it was friendly fire, it happens. Now, get a grip," Chin says and hopes Danny will calm down.

"You're right, I'm sorry."

"No need to apologize. What happened next, why are you here? Why not at the crime scene?"

"Because there is no damn crime scene," Danny says, waving his hands around and starts pacing again. "The two 'dead guys' are not dead at all. It was all staged. The whole ambulance transport and escape was staged."

"So, Steve is not a traitor," Kono says relieved.

"I don't know. I don't know anything anymore. Lt. Denver, the one Steve 'shot' first, said a Captain will tell us what's going on. He should be here soon."

As if on cue, Captain Rogers and Lieutenant Denver, now sporting a new uniform, enter through the double glass doors.

"Detective Williams, I'm sorry we have to meet under these circumstances," Captain Rogers says as he offers his hand to Danny. "McGarrett warned me that it would not be a good idea to keep you out of the loop, I'm now sorry I didn't listen to him."

"Sir. This is Lt. Chin Ho Kelly, and Officer Kalakaua," Danny shakes hands with the captain and motions to his two team-mates.

"I know, I have heard a lot about you."

"Well, we haven't heard anything about you, Sir." Danny can't but remark.

Captain Rogers only smiles, he didn't expect anything else from his commander. He knew that Steve didn't like keeping his assignment from his team, but Rogers knew that he wouldn't say a word if ordered not to.

"I'm sorry about that. Commander McGarrett was not at liberty to say anything to you or anyone else."

"About what exactly? What the heck is going on?" Danny has now had enough, with not knowing what his friend is up to.

"Seven months ago, Commander McGarrett left to look for Shelburne. Well, that was not all he was doing," Rogers says and looks at his commander's team. "Catching Wo Fat was a nice side effect of what he was really doing. He worked for NI and in exchange for his services they, we, helped him locate Shelburne which instead led to the arrest of Wo Fat."

"He has been working for Naval Intelligence?" Chin wants to know.

"Yes. He was a highly successful officer in NI before he became Five-0. Nobody was really happy to see him go. And since he is still in the reserves, we can activate him if need be."

"Why would there be a need to activate Steve? Don't you have other SEALs or spies or whoever else could do the job?" Danny doesn't understand why it had to be Steve to do this job, whatever this job was.

"McGarrett is not a spy, Detective. He is a SEAL working covered OPs with Naval Intelligence. And he is damn good at what he does. And no, it could not have been done by someone else. He had worked with our target before."

"Target?" Kono asks her first question.

"Norton Assante."

"The weapon's manufacturer?" Danny had heard that he had been under investigation by the Government for selling weapons to countries on the ban-list. But nothing could ever be proven.

"The one and the same. He doesn't have a contract with the US, but his new weapon clearly is a replica of one the Navy has developed."

"What, you're talking about a new bomb or machine gun, or what?" Danny wants to know more details.

"No, actually it's not a destructive weapon at all. It's high tech surveillance equipment. I will demonstrate its potential in a moment. We know that he got his hands on the plans from one of two Navy engineers, but we have no proof and are not sure which one. And we don't know how far he is with his version of it. Seven months ago, Steve 'saved' Assante while in Japan. And he offered Steve a job, just as we hoped he would. A week later we put everything in motion and Steve started to work on this new assignment. He has met with Assante a few times, in fact, every time he went on a weekend drill or had time off with Five-0."

"What did he do for him?" Danny wonders what such an 'assignment' would involve.

"He investigated a few people for him. Fed him information, small things. Fabricated things as well as the real deal. Useful and sometimes misleading stuff. His information couldn't be too perfect or it wouldn't be believable."

"If that was going so well, why did you have Steve arrested, and more importantly broken out?"

"We forced Assante's hand. Last weekend, Steve broke into the security facility, took the information and wiped the server. That could only be done on site. Two of Assante's men were with him, afterwards they flew back out to the yacht. Now the problem is, the information is encrypted and only the two engineers can read the information."

"So, now he is forced to get the officer giving him the information." Danny slowly understands the plan behind all this.

"Yes, he has to get the officer out on his yacht to decrypt the vital parts for the surveillance system. We hope to make the arrests tonight and bring this operation to an end."

"But what does he need Steve for if he already stole the information for Assante?" Danny thinks that is a big flaw in the plan, they don't really need Steve anymore.

"Ah, your friend is not an idiot. He uploaded the information to a secure server and only he knows the password and how to access it. Actually he uploaded it to your server." Captain Rogers smiles at them.

"So let me get this straight, you guys hope Assante will get the 'spy' to his boat to decrypt the stuff Steve is holding? And with that, reveal his source?"

"That's the plan, Detective. Unfortunately, you made it a lot more difficult. I understand you shot Commander McGarrett. In his current state, that isn't a good thing."

"Current state?"

"I had to make Steve pretty sick to get him transferred to Tripler," Lt. Denver speaks up for the first time and tells them about Steve's condition. "We faked a heart attack and an intracranial bleed. In the ambulance I gave him something to counteract the symptoms, but he will feel really crappy for a while."

"Do you know where he is? Do you have any means of communication with McGarrett?" Chin asks the obvious.

"Yeah, we know exactly where he is. He has a tracker in his thigh. I implanted it after he got injured during booking. That injury was very welcomed, actually. We can pinpoint his location down to a few feet. And communication? We can do better than that," Denver tells them and looks at his CO before he continues. After the captain nods his agreement Denver gives Chin a thumb drive, "You only have to hack into the feed and we will have visual, audio and McGarrett's exact position."

"That is the demonstration I told you about earlier. McGarrett installed the new system on the yacht. As long as he's there we will see what is going on. And they will never know, no matter what kind of equipment they have to check for bugs or any kind of surveillance," Captain Rogers tells them almost proudly.

A minute later they see a red dot coming up on the map, around ten miles off the coast of Oahu. Chin opens a second program and they get a video feed in HD from Assante's yacht. The video screen is split into eight smaller screens, showing different rooms. Upon seeing what's on one of the small screens he touches it and the seven screens disappear and the one Chin touched pops up fully on the big screen.

It shows a rather large room on the yacht, a very luxurious room. But that is not what interests them, their attention is on the man lying on the couch.

They are looking at Steve McGarrett, propped up on pillows. With a bandaged shoulder and out cold. Or asleep, they can't say for sure. A moment later the scenario changes when Steve begins to stir.

H50 – H50 – H50

_**Norton Assante's yacht, 10 miles off the coast of Oahu**_

The first thing Steve becomes aware is that he's propped up on a couple of pillows into a half sitting position. And that he's kind of moving. It takes a few more minutes for him to realize that he's not moving, but that the room is in motion. It takes his muddled, pain filled brain a little longer to figure out that he's on a boat. A yacht to be precise.

Steve listens carefully for any sounds before he tentatively opens his eyes. And he is very happy to discover that he can see with both eyes. His vision is a little unfocused but after blinking a few times, he takes care of that. He looks around and sees that he's on the same yacht he spent the last weekend on.

His gaze lands on the opposite wall and he just hopes that the surveillance equipment is still working. That would mean his CO is getting video and audio right now. He has to grin a little; him sleeping on the job is probably not what Captain Rodgers expected to see.

He looks down at himself and wonders whose shirt he is wearing. That hideous thing is for sure not his. It's the ugliest purple he's ever seen. It's unbuttoned and he can see his left shoulder is patched up with gauze pads and an awkwardly wrapped around bandage. A few spots of blood can be seen on it, he obviously had been bleeding for some time. He has his pants on, but his boots are nowhere to be seen. _Why the hell did they take off my shoes?_

Steve tries to sit up but ends up falling back with a groan. Big mistake trying to move. White hot pain shoots into his shoulder and all the way down his arm and over his chest. _Damn._ He grabs his left arm that is bent on his stomach and tries to keep it from trembling too much, which aggravates the pain in his shoulder even further. It's clear that the bullet did some serious damage and he's sure that it's still embedded in his shoulder.

When he has his breathing back under control Steve opens his tightly shut eyes again. He gathers his strength for a second attempt to get up, but before he can even grab the backrest of the couch to pull himself up, he gets company. His host and two of his goons enter.

"Ah, Commander McGarrett, you're awake. That is good, we were getting worried," Norton Assante says as he sits down next to Steve, who still lies propped up by the pillows on the couch in the main cabin of the billionaire's yacht. Assante looks at Steve and places the palm of his hand gently on the bandaged left shoulder. Like one would do with a good friend. "My doctor did the best he could, but he is no surgeon. I'm afraid the bullet is still in there."

Steve refuses to groan from the pain the increasing pressure causes. Assante started pressing on the wound as he started to speak. "He told me the bullet graced your collarbone, but didn't completely fracture it, at least as far as he can tell. Unfortunately it is embedded too deeply for him to get out. He said you have lost a good amount of blood. I hope you are not feeling too weak to meet with our friends later?" Norton keeps talking and is not lessening the pressure on Steve's gunshot wound. "I'm sorry that we don't have any sufficient drugs to deal with the kind of pain I'm sure you are experiencing right now." Assante gets up from his seat, but not before he pushes his hand forcefully onto the bandaged wound.

This time Steve can't keep the groan in as pain again explodes in his shoulder. For a moment all he can see are black spots on a gray canvas. From far away he hears someone talking but is not able to make out the words, but recognizes Assante's strong French accent. And then his brain is suddenly back on-line. It's like a switch is turned. The pain in his shoulder makes breathing hard, and Steve knows he needs to slow it down before he hyperventilates and blacks out.

He tries to concentrate on what Assante is saying, but he's sure he has missed one sentence or another.

"McGarrett, I must say, I was very surprised to hear from my men that Detective Williams had shot you," the billionaire tells him and shakes his head. "I thought he was your partner and friend? With friends like that… you don't need any enemies."

Steve grits his teeth as Assante laughs at his own stupid joke. "He was only doing his job."

"Yeah, well… actually shooting you convinced me that you're the real deal. I wasn't quite sure that you were willing to give me the final information. But now… I believe you." Assante winks to one of his goons and he comes closer, bearing Steve's boots. He puts them down on the thick carpet next to the couch and steps back without saying a word. "I expect you to be ready to come have breakfast with me in fifteen minutes. Then you can tell me what the reason was that made you turn against your country. To betray all your friends, to lie to them for over seven months. You must be really cold hearted to be able to do that." Assante again shakes his head at Steve, half in disgust, half in curiosity.

Steve doesn't say anything as he watches his host leaving the cabin; he knows that his friends will be deeply hurt and betrayed by what he had done. When he took on this job he knew that there would be no going back to what he once had with his friends, his Ohana. His resignation has long since been written and if he survives he will go back to active duty, leaving Five-0 and the islands.

H50 – H50 – H50

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_**I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Looking forward to your thoughts.**_


	5. Chapter 5 Abort or go on?

_**I like to thank Cokie and Sherry again for their great beta work. Thank you Ladies!**_

_**I also like to thank everyone who posted a review, put this story on alert, or simply read it.**_

_**If you haven't already, go and check out Cokie's and my first collaboration P.I.T.A. – you can find it under Cokie316. I wanted to link to it, but as usually links are not working here.**_

_**Now, on with the next chapter. I hope you will enjoy it. There might even be a second chapter this week, depends if there is a demand for it…**_

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**Treason – Chapter 05 – Abort or go on**

_**Norton Assante's yacht, 10 miles off the coast of Oahu**_

Steve closes his eyes for a moment and tries to get control over the pain throbbing in his left shoulder. He tried to keep it together as long as Assante and his goon squad were in the room, but now being alone it is a different matter. He's not quite sure but he thinks Assante's manhandling made the bone of his collarbone shift. It might be fractured after all. Steve lies still and takes a few controlled deep breaths. After a minute he has pushed the pain down to a manageable level but knows it will only get worse as long as the wound is not properly treated. And he's sure he could use some antibiotics as well. He already feels a bit warm, signs of the stress his body has had to endure the last hours. Maybe even the first signs of a beginning infection.

Steve has no idea what Phil Denver injected him with to make him so sick early this morning, but he is still suffering the aftereffects. His head is throbbing madly and he feels slightly sick, but that might also be from getting shot or from the mild concussion he suffered yesterday. _Take your pick._ Steve has to silently laugh at that, yeah, getting shot really didn't help his situation.

Steve takes another deep breath and opens his eyes again, turning his head to look directly at the surveillance camera. He is still amazed that it is not possible to see it. It's not a camera at all, but just a patch one can stick to any surface. It's like a clear film and really is an amazing piece of technology. You could be looking right at it, and still barely see it. And it delivers video in HD quality and crystal clear sound. Steve wonders for a moment who is watching him right now. For sure Denver and a few guys from NI, also probably Captain Rogers since they entered the hot phase of the operation. Steve gives himself another minute of just lying on the couch and thinking his next steps through.

His thoughts wander to Danny. _I hope he's okay._ Steve is sure that he had not been hit, but he's also sure Danny will be really pissed. Mostly for being kept in the dark about it all, and being lied to by his best friend. _Hope he doesn't get into trouble._ Steve knows that Danny's tendency to talk before thinking can get problematic at times. To act like that with NI is not a good idea. _McGarrett stop it._ Steve shakes his head and reminds himself to get his head into gear. He has a job to do, and thinking about his friend won't do him any good.

He grabs the backrest of the couch with his right hand and very slowly pulls himself into a vertical position. He tries not to move his left arm, but it still hurts like a bitch when he contracts the muscles to get upright. Steve had put his left foot onto the floor before he started to pull himself up and now sits sideways on the couch. The room is tilting and he holds onto the backrest with a death grip, otherwise he's sure he would topple off the couch. Steve hangs his head, but that pulls on his shredded shoulder muscles and makes him groan.

Steve slowly turns so that both his feet are on the floor. His left arm is resting in his lap and is pretty much useless. He looks around the room for anything he could use as a sling, but the only thing that would do is his belt, and he's not willing to use that.

The dizziness is slowly receding and Steve looks down at his boots, which seem to mock him. He's staring at them like he hopes they will magically appear on his feet. But that's not going to happen. _Maybe I can just go barefoot?_ Steve shakes his head and very carefully bends down and retrieves the left boot. Then he widens the laces a bit more and puts the boot back on the floor. The right one gets the same treatment. They are now both sitting on the floor waiting for him to slip in.

That is easier said than done he figures out a minute later. He first tries to do it sitting down, but that's not working. _Damn, it can't be so hard to get shoes on._ Sitting on the low couch just gives him the wrong angle to get his foot into the boot without bending down and using his hands. But he can't bend down without the room spinning and pain flaring up in his shoulder. It was hard enough to pick up the boots from the floor, he has no desire to repeat that maneuver.

There is only one way, he has to stand up and slip into the boots. That should work. Of course then it is a long way down to tie the laces. _Damn. _His mildly concussed brain just doesn't come up with the idea to simply get his boot and foot up from the floor and put it on. Putting on boots seems like an impossible task at the moment.

It is a very good thing that Steve doesn't know that his team is watching his failing attempts to put his shoes on. Or their growing concern.

Steve struggles to get up from the couch but finally manages and stands on rather shaky legs. He kicks his boots next to the couch, so that he can lean back against the wall. He leans his head back against the wall and tries to stay on his feet and not slide down. It is so very tempting to just let go and pass out. Steve is sure the drugs in his system are still messing with him. He can feel his control slipping, and that is a really bad thing. He needs to be in control of his body if he wants to have a chance to get the mission done.

His breathing is way too fast and his heart is beating out of his chest again. "Damn it, McGarrett, get a grip." He gives himself a little pep talk out loud and tries to let his training take over, but it seems that the drugs are keeping him from doing so. _You're thinking too much. Right._ He snorts at that idea and can actually hear what Danny has to say about that observation.

Steve is startled out of his little 'zoning-out' when he starts to slide down the wall. He grabs on to the next best thing, a hip high shelf to his right, and pulls himself erect again. He shakes his head to get the fog out of his brain and the room back into focus.

It takes him about a minute to get his feet into the stubborn boots, but he finally manages it. But now comes the next problem, there is no way he will be able to bend down and tie the laces. Steve looks down at his feet and wonders how to do it.

Before he can come up with any ideas, the cabin door slides open and Gloria, Norton's wife, enters. Steve has had some 'encounters' with her already, and her shameless flirting in front of her jealous husband is not something said husband finds amusing in any way. Steve had been the target of her flirting every time he had a meeting with Assante.

"Hello, Steve," she sweetly says as she comes closer. She looks at Steve like a predator seizing it's prey. "My husband said you might need some help."

"Um, thank you, but I'll manage," Steve says and wishes he could get away from her, but he is trapped between the shelf and the couch. And with her standing in front of him his only escape is blocked. Besides his boots are still unlaced, and stumbling over his own feet is the last thing he needs.

"I think you have a little problem down there," she says as she lets her gaze slowly travel over his body all the way down to his shoes. Halting her gaze first on his ABS and again a little lower.

Making Steve almost squirm under her gaze. He curses himself for not having buttoned the ugly shirt.

"Let me help you with that. My husband expects you to be presentable at breakfast." She closes the gap that had separated them and kneels down in front of him, smiling up from her perch at his feet.

A moment later his boots are tied and she slowly stands up, but instead of stepping back she comes even closer and starts buttoning his shirt. The thick sweet scent of her perfume is making him queasy. When she is done with her task she lets her hands wander south, touching him in the most inappropriate way. She is pressing her body against Steve, fighting his attempt to push her off. A moment later she steps back, disappointment clearly written all over her face.

"You're really not interested in me," she tells Steve with anger in her voice.

Steve has to grin despite the situation. He doesn't like to be touched in such an intimate way by a molesting stranger, and he doubts that his body would react right now even if Cath were the one doing the touching.

"No, I'm not."

"You don't find me attractive?"

Steve only looks at her and doesn't answer that question. Everyone would call her beautiful by her looks alone. But her behavior in using her good looks that aggressively to her advantage puts her into a category Steve never found anything attractive about. It obviously shows on his face, at least judging by her next action.

"You bastard," she almost spits at him and accompanies her outburst with a slap to his face that rattles his brain. And leaves him with a cut lip from her ring.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Steve mutters as he wipes the blood from his lip.

If looks could kill, Steve is sure he would drop dead right this second, felled by the daggers of ice and fury Gloria is sending his way. She is almost trembling with anger. "You will regret this!" She tells him with venom in her voice, turns and storms out the cabin.

Steve looks after her and sags back against the wall in relief. His split lip burns and his head is killing him after the slapping. She packed quite a punch. He pushes himself off the wall and it takes a moment for him to find his legs. Steve cradles his left arm with his right and wishes for a sling to take the strain off his shoulder even though the intense pain from earlier is now down to a throbbing. Before he leaves he hooks his left hand under his belt to stabilize it and free his right arm from the task of keeping his left steady.

After taking another deep breath he takes one last look at the 'camera' and makes his way out of the cabin to have breakfast with his host. The thought of eating makes him sick, so he swallows down the rising bile and tries to think of something other than food.

H50 – H50 – H50

_**Five-0 Headquarter**_

"That bitch!"

Four heads turn Kono's way after she uttered the explicit under her breath.

"What? Women like that make us all look bad," Kono explains her outrage. "Besides she better take her hands off the boss." Seeing the raised eyebrow of the Captain she is fast to explain, "He is injured, he really doesn't need that woman pouncing on him."

"I'm sure Commander McGarrett can handle her," Captain Rodgers assures all of them. He knows that Mrs. Assante is a handful and McGarrett has had to deal with her for seven months now. And that had not always been easy.

The slapping sound on the screen causes them all to look back at what is happening. Seeing the blood on Steve's lip makes them wince in sympathy.

"Ouch," Danny says and hopes that his friend is alright, knowing that he already has a concussion causes Danny to worry.

"He shouldn't aggravate her like that," Rodgers says.

"What, you want him to play along? What that woman did is more than just harassment, she outright molested him. If a man had done that…" Danny can't finish his sentence before being interrupted by Rodgers.

"Detective, the objective is more important than getting groped by some lovesick woman. After viewing this, I'm getting more worried about McGarrett's injuries. He would normally not let her get to him like that," Rodgers says with real concern in his voice. "Lieutenant, how serious is his concussion? Can he go on, or do we have to pull him out?"

Danny looks in surprise at the Captain, he would never have thought that aborting the mission would be an option.

"What, Detective? That is our man in there; we want to make sure he'll get out of there alive. You think we don't care about our people?" Rodgers asks Danny half in anger, half in annoyance.

"No, I'm just a bit surprised. That's all," Danny tells him honestly.

"Lieutenant, back to my question…"

"Yes, Sir. His concussion is a minor one from hitting this table when he was arrested and even more so when he was shot with a Taser gun and almost knocked out during processing."

"He got tased? That was not part of the plan," Rodgers intervenes.

"No, it was not. When they wanted to cuff him again after he was undressed, he asked why and, well, they overreacted. They only knew that he was a SEAL, I think that is why they were so overly aggressive. They will face disciplinary actions for how they handled the situation," Denver tells them and he has every intention of following up on the guards' punishment. "The drugs I gave him should slowly wear off, but they are still messing with him a little. As you could see when he was almost unable to figure out how to put on his shoes. Adding blood loss and pain to all of that… well, he is not doing good right now. But as long as the shoulder wound doesn't start bleeding again and he gets medical treatment in the next day, he should be fine."

"So, your assessment is that he can complete the mission?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Alright then. I think we should move in closer to his location. Get the team ready to intervene at a moment's notice. Detective, we will leave you with the open feed, so you can watch as long as they are on the boat…"

"Whoa, whoa, wait!" Danny holds up his hands and calls out to the Captain. "We're coming with you."

"No, Detective, you're not. This is a Navy operation, and you are clearly… not Navy," Rodgers says as he looks Danny up and down.

"Steve is our boss, and where he goes, we go," Danny tells him. He is still mad at Steve for lying and keeping such a huge secret, and doing so with such ease that Danny never suspected a thing. But Steve is his partner, and he will have his back. If the moron wants it or not.

"Captain, they could be an asset to the operation. In this phase, I mean. They know McGarrett; they have worked closely with him in the last years. Even McGarrett wanted to involve them… at least to a degree. Maybe we should let them tag along, Sir," Denver tells his CO, making a case for Five-0.

Captain Roberts thinks about it for a moment before he agrees. "Okay, but you stay out of the way. To be clear, this is not your operation. You do as we say."

"Fair enough," Danny agrees to the terms.

"Meet us in half an hour at the coast guard station, they will provide a boat."

"What? The Navy ran out of boats?" Danny can't help but ask.

"No, Detective. The Coast Guard cruising is much less suspicious than a Navy vessel, don't you think?"

Danny must admit the captain does have a point. "Guess so. We'll be there in half an hour."

"Lieutenant, can I switch the video stream to the tablet computer?" Chin asks. That way they could take Steve with them, so to speak.

"Sure, no problem. Let me show you," Denver tells Chin and a minute later the video feed is also on the tablet.

Shortly after the three remaining Five-0 are left alone at HQ. They look at each other not quite sure what to make of everything they have learned in the last minutes.

"When this is over, I think we need to have a chat with our fearless leader," Danny says into the quiet.

"About?" Chin wonders what Danny wants to talk about.

"Well, for one, about lying to us. For keeping something like this from us. He lied to our faces, Chin. Just this morning. Camping trip my ass. He was out, who knows where, breaking and entering," Danny says as he starts pacing again.

"Danny, I'm sure he didn't like lying to us at all. But he was under orders. He couldn't tell us."

"Bullshit, Chin. We're his team, we're his friends. He could have found a way if he wanted to. But he probably thought he needed to protect us, or something stupid like that."

"Danny, are you even listening to yourself? Steve took an oath as an officer of the Navy; he can't just chose which orders to follow and which not." Chin looks at Danny and wonders not for the first time why Danny simply won't or can't accept that Steve is still a Naval officer. In the reserves, but if activated, which he obviously was seven months ago, he will not disobey an order.

"He lied to us without even breaking a sweat. Just makes me wonder, you know."

"Wonder about what, Danny?"

"Guys! Don't you think this discussion can wait until we have Steve back?" Kono interrupts the two men.

"You're right. Let's concentrate on getting him back first. Preferably in one piece, so I can kick his butt." Danny says with a grin, but sobers immediately thinking about that Steve isn't in one piece due to a bullet in the shoulder he put there.

"Danny, do you want to call Doris or Cath?" Chin asks.

"No. Cath would only worry, and couldn't do anything from San Diego. And Doris, well, I think we should wait until we know more."

"Alright, your call." Chin wouldn't want to call Doris either. Knowing her, she would probably find her way right into the middle of the operation. And that is something none of them wants.

"Good, now let's head out." Danny tells his friends as he takes a last look at the big screen where they can see Steve on his way to have breakfast with Assante.

H50 – H50 – H50


	6. Chapter 6 Orders

**Treason **– **Chapter 06 **– **Orders**

_**On the way to the Coast Guard Station**_

"Danny, you have any idea when this all started?" Kono asks her second boss.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean when did Steve get his orders? You have any idea how this came about?"

"I'm not sure, but I think I was with him when he was _reactivated_," Danny tells them and uses air quotes to make his point about the reactivation. "We were out to lunch when he was called by, I think Captain Rodgers."

"What happened?" Chin wants to know.

_**Angel Z' diner **_– _**about seven months ago**_

_"You sure you don't want that anymore?" Danny looks at the almost untouched French fries on Steve's plate._

_"Yeah, go ahead," Steve tells Danny and pushes the fries onto Danny's plate. Lately he has not been really hungry. He had lost some weight over the last few months. Even Danny is nagging him about it. Just like Cath did during his drill on the Enterprise. He really tries to eat more, but somehow he has so much on his mind at the moment, that he simply isn_'_t hungry most of the time._

_"Steve, are you sure you're alright? How was your training weekend?" Danny asks, worrying about his friend. The last couple of months have not been easy for Steve. First there was the debacle in North Korea with Jenna and then with Joe lying to him about Shelburne. _

_"It was fine."_

_They get interrupted by the ringing of Steve's cell phone. "Sorry, Danny, I have to take this," Steve says and answers his phone with a short "McGarrett."_

_"Petty Officer Brill here, Sir. Please hold for Captain Rodgers," a female voice tells him._

_"Okay," Steve answers, covers the phone and looks at Danny. "It's my CO."_

_"What does he want?"_

_Steve can only shrug his shoulders, he has no idea what the captain would want from him. Steve looks around the diner and wonders why he was called by his commanding officer._

_"Yes, Sir."_

_Danny looks up from his burger when Steve starts to speak. He has to grin when he sees that his friend straightened up as soon as his CO was on the line. Twenty years of training are obviously ingrained into him, even after two years more or less out of the Navy. He listens to Steve's side of the conversation. _

_"Yes, Sir, that is correct_… _yes, Sir, I'm aware of that_… _no, Sir, it was not my intention to drive the truck into the ditch_… _yes, Sir, I know it is a multi-million dollar piece of equipment_… _yes, Sir, I'm aware that I'm responsible for that_… _yes, Sir_… _Sir, the equipment was not damaged_… _yes, Sir_… _yes, Sir, the delay was unfortunate_… _no, Sir, no injuries_… _Sir, right now?... yes, Sir." _

_Danny has to laugh at the sight in front of him; Steve rolls his eyes and then hangs his head. "What did you do?" He asks after Steve ends the call._

_"Nothing."_

_"Uh huh, nothing. That's why your CO just called and you used more Sirs in one minute than I have ever heard you say since I've known you?"_

_"Well, there might have been a little accident," Steve says and after seeing the questioning look on Danny's face, he elaborates. "I drove a truck into a ditch. Not my fault by the way. Unfortunately we were transporting a drone_… _and_… _well, it fell off the truck into the mud. And the truck flipped onto the side. It took us five hours to get everything back onto the road. We were late for a demonstration_… _and had to spend the rest of the weekend in muddy and wet clothes," Steve concludes, a bit embarrassed about his mishap._

_Danny really tries not to laugh, but it's a lost cause. "So, you were just reprimanded for destroying a multi-million dollar drone?"_

_"There was no damage_… _just a bit of mud," Steve tells his friend with a grin. Of course he knows it could have ended in disaster, but there was no harm done. Except that he miscalculated the shoulder bed and they ended up in the mud. If it hadn't been a drill they would have been fucked. He had deserved the dressing down he had received from his commander. Why the captain brought it up now, three days later was kind of odd. _

_"Was anyone hurt? Are you okay?"_

_"Yeah, I'm fine. Nobody was injured. The captain wants to see me though."_

_"Are you in trouble for it?" Danny asks._

_"No, I don't think so. I got a dressing down from my commander because of the botched up operation. But I doubt there will be a formal rebuke." At least Steve hopes so._

_"So, he wants to see you now?" _

_"Yeah, sorry, I'm sure it won't take long. I'll be at HQ as soon as I can," Steve tells his friend and gets up to see Captain Rodgers._

"And what did Steve say his CO wanted when he got back?" Kono asks after Danny finished his tale about the strange phone call.

"That he wanted to 'voice his displeasure at Steve's performance during his drill'. Steve's words, not mine. I'm pretty sure now that was just a cover up for why he was really called to see Rodgers," Danny says and is again angry about his friend obviously lying to him for all those months.

He, of course can't know how right he is with his assessment about what really happened when Steve was called before his CO.

_**Ford Island, Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Captain Rodgers' Office, seven months ago**_

_"Commander, please have a seat," Captain Rodgers tells Steve after the greetings._

_"Thank you, Sir." Steve sits down in one of the two chairs across from Rodgers._

_"I guess you're wondering why I called you in on such short notice."_

_"Is this about my performance at_…_"_

_"No. Although I was not very impressed with your less than stellar performance last weekend and neither was Commander Jones. But he assured me that you were not solely responsible for the accident?"_

_"Well, no, Sir, but I was the one who could have prevented it," Steve must confess. _

_"Yeah, well, Commander in hindsight we all know better." Captain Rodgers learned from Steve's CO this morning what had happened and had to agree that an official reprimand was not necessary. After all, accidents do happen. "But that is not why you are here. I'm sorry I gave you that impression. That was just for the people who might have been listening to our conversation. So you had an excuse to come here today."_

_"I don't understand, Sir."_

_Rodgers looks at Steve and skims through a file he has on his desk. "Commander, I have your file here, and it says that you went to North Korea a few months back?"_

_"Yes, Sir, I did," Steve cautiously answers._

_"You were captured, injured, and later rescued by Lieutenant Commander Joe White and a few civilians who remain nameless?"_

_"Yes, that is correct."_

_"White was_… _let go over it. I know that he also had a run in with the Yakuza and that you saved him." Rodgers looks at Steve who looks slightly surprised about this knowledge. "He left the Islands, didn't he?"_

_"Yes, Sir, he did. Sir, what does that have to do with me being here?"_

_"I know that you are trying to find a person named 'Shelburne'. That you don't believe what White has told you about it." Rodgers pauses for a moment before he comes to the part that is foremost on his mind. "Commander, I will be blunt with you. I think you are struggling, not just with the torture in North Korea but more so with this whole Shelburne fiasco and Joe White's lies. I think your overall poor performance this weekend is a direct result of what you are facing right now. And I'm pretty sure you are not happy with yourself at the moment. I even think you are already planning to leave Five-0 until you find this elusive Shelburne."_

_"What are you getting at, Sir?" Steve is quite shocked about what Rodgers knows about his past and what he has been planning to do._

_"I want to help you. I can help you find Shelburne. I know you are using your contacts right now to look for him. But what if I could offer you the use of the whole NI?"_

_"How so?"_

_"I would like you to do an undercover job. While doing that job, you would have Naval Intelligence at your disposal."_

_"Sir, with all due respect, but you have a lot of people under your command who I'm sure are capable of doing whatever job you're referring to." Steve is not really sure what he should think about this offer._

_"You remember Norton Assante?"_

_"Yes, of course. How could I forget him? We got him out of Kabul almost eight years ago. Why, Sir?"_

_"I want you to 'save' him again."_

_"Save him?"_

_"He is in Tokyo, Japan at the moment. We will arrange for an assassination that you will prevent. We know that he already offered you a job eight years ago, and we are certain that he will do so again. And this time we want you to take it."_

_"You want me to work for Assante?" Steve is still not sure what is expected of him._

_"We want you to betray your country and 'sell' him whatever he is looking for."_

_"What?"_

_"Only you, me, your handler, and the SECNAV will know about your role. For everyone else, you will be a traitor if you would get caught. Commander, we don't want you to 'spy' or anything. We already know what Assante is looking for; we only want you to get him just that."_

_"Why? If you know what he is up to, why not just arrest him and shatter his whole enterprise?"_

_"Because we need to find out who has been giving him this classified information. Commander, neither I nor anyone else in the Navy is questioning your loyalty or your sense of justice and that you're doing a great job. BUT, your involvement with the murder of the Governor of Hawaii; your involvement with Wo Fat; the Hesse brothers; the problem with the Russian embassy and your let's say 'questionable' methods are playing right into our plans to 'sell' you as a renegade." _

_"Sir, I would never_…_"_

_"McGarrett, let's face it, in your current state you are pitch perfect for this plan. We know that you would never betray your country or your friends. **We** know that. But Assante might believe it."_

_Rodgers looks at the younger man and knows that what he had just told him was not really fair. It must add immensely to his already full plate and he hopes it wasn't too much for McGarrett to carry. _

_"What do you want me to tell my team? I can't keep them in the dark about this."_

_"Nothing. You can't involve them. We can't risk them knowing."_

_"They are trustworthy, I trust them with my life, I can't lie to them_…_"_

_"Commander, we can't risk anyone else knowing about this. It's a direct order from the SECNEV to keep this under total wraps. If you take this assignment you are under strict orders not to say a word to anyone. You have to lie to your friends, to your family and loved ones. Can you do that?"_

_"Sir, I have no problem not talking about classified information. Although, it is something quite different to lie to my friends," Steve tells the captain honestly. He thinks about it for a moment before he continues. "But orders are orders, Sir. I won't tell anyone."_

_"So, you will take the job?"_

_"Yes, Sir. Assante has gotten away with it long enough, he has put many people in jeopardy and is a threat to many, not just to our security. And you're right; I do need answers before my actions start jeopardizing my team. How much time do I have before I have to leave?"_

_"Three days. I think this latest setback during your drill will make the need for you to leave a bit more believable. What will you tell your team?"_

_"Nothing, Sir. I think I will leave a letter," Steve tells his CO. Knowing that it's the coward's way out, but he can't face Danny and tell him face to face that he's taking a leave of absence. Danny would know right away that something is up. He hopes his friend will understand. He has to talk to the Governor though and put Danny in charge._

_Three days later everything is in place for Steve to leave on a military transport to Japan and Danny finds Steve's letter on his desk._

_"Partner, I'm sorry I couldn't be there in person to tell you this. But I need to find Joe White. I think he lied to me about the identity of Shelburne. And I need to get the truth. Shelburne is the real reason my father was murdered. And maybe even my mother. And until I get some answers I can't do this job right._

_Danno, I_'_m gonna need you to hold down the fort for a while. I'll be in touch._

_Mahalo." _

H50 – H50 – H50


	7. Chapter 7 Intervention

_**It seems that not everyone got an alert on Thursday that a new chapter had been posted. So, in case you haven't done so, go and read chapter six first.**_

* * *

**Treason – Chapter 07 – Intervention**

_**Norton Assante's yacht, 10 miles off the coast of Oahu**_

Steve steps out of the cabin, leans against the closed door and breathes in the fresh air. It had rained for a short while, and the air is still a little misty. Steve loves when the air not only smells like the ocean but when you can actually taste the air that you breathe. And just as always, a whiff of the salty air vitalizes him like nothing else does. His head clears and even the pain in his shoulder is not as prominent as it was a few minutes ago.

He looks out to the horizon, but there is nothing much to see. No other boats are in visual distance, but he knows that, regardless, his every movement is being monitored. Steve gently touches the still bandaged thigh and hopes the embedded chip is doing its job. The wounds are still smarting some, and he hopes the chip doesn't cause an infection like the bullet is doing for sure.

Steve is startled out of his musings by the slight vibration rolling through the yacht's hull when the engines come to life. They are running almost completely silent, and the small tremor was the only indication that they had started up. A moment later the yacht moves smoothly through the calm sea. Heading even farther away from the coast line of Hawaii. Steve knows that they will be out of the 12 mile zone soon. And with that they will leave US jurisdiction. For a moment Steve wonders where they are going. This yacht is an ocean-going vessel, but it is too small to cross the Pacific or even reach any other islands than the Hawaiians. The only way would be to meet a larger ship outside the territorial waters.

Steve pushes away from the door and slowly makes his way to the larger meeting room, where he has had meals a few times before. He grabs on to the railing to steady himself and pauses in front of the sliding door, bracing himself for what is to come.

H50 – H50 – H50

_**U.S. Coast Guard vessel, heading out to sea**_

Danny looks over to Chin and wonders what has him so engrossed in his computer tablet. For the last couple of minutes he is almost furiously typing on his small computer. Chin is acting rather uncharacteristically; he is always calm and collected, but that flew out the window shortly after they boarded the Coast Guard cruiser.

They are now sitting in the enclosed bridge, which is not in use at the moment. The ship is operated from the open bridge, upstairs. Danny has to smile at the thought of what Steve would tell him about calling the open bridge being located 'upstairs'.

It will take them less than half an hour to reach their destination with this high speed boat. Danny was a bit surprised to see how well equipped the 47-foot lifeboat is, it can house up to 30 passengers, or in most cases rescued people from capsized boats or disasters similar to that. It's not like this is a cruise ship. But he was most impressed with the 'watertight survivor's compartment'. One of the sailors gave them a quick tour when they boarded, and seeing that compartment, fully equipped to give advanced first aid, was rather impressive.

Now they are sitting on the bridge with Rodgers and Denver, waiting to get closer to Assante's yacht, the 'Mirror'.

"Damn."

"Chin, what's wrong?" Danny is not the only one looking at Chin.

"It's not on it anymore."

"What are you talking about?" Captain Rodgers' wants to know.

"You told us that Steve stored the data on our servers. I just checked that, and you're right, he did. But it's not there anymore. At five thirty this morning, the server was accessed and the data downloaded and erased."

"That is impossible. Steve was unconscious at that time," Denver tells them.

"I can't tell you who accessed the server, but the data was extracted early this morning. It is not there anymore."

"Sir, we have to get McGarrett out. He's been made," Lt. Denver voices what seems to be the obvious.

"We don't know that for sure. Nothing from the surveillance indicates that. Why would they stick to the plan if they already have all the information? It's a high risk to keep this up if they don't need the commander any longer." Captain Rodgers is not willing to abort the operation that quickly without hard evidence. Not after all those months of hard work.

"Maybe they need Steve for something else. As long as they haven't found out that he's working under cover and is actually under surveillance, he should be okay, right?" Danny says, hoping to be right about that.

"Williams is right. Just because they have recovered the data doesn't mean they know what Steve is really doing."

"Captain, that is a high risk you're taking here," Kono speaks up. She doesn't like this at all. She just wants her boss back. "Have you checked if there are any bigger ships nearby?"

"Why?" Lt. Denver asks.

"They are on the move, out of the 12-mile zone. Where are they going? There is nothing out there, except other ships. I imagine Steve would be interesting for a lot of people, for a lot of countries. I would think that his knowledge as a SEAL is worth quite a lot." Seeing the realization dawn on the captain's face, she doesn't go on.

"Get me Pearl on the line; I want to know the ID of every ship in a fifty-mile radius around that yacht. If she is right, we are in trouble," Rodgers tells his lieutenant.

Danny looks at the suddenly very busy lieutenant and wonders if he even is a doctor. So far, he looks more like a normal NI agent, being Steve's handler and working the computer like a pro.

"What do you think is going on?" Danny hasn't quite caught on to what Kono was implying.

"They might hand McGarrett over to a third party," is the short answer from Rodgers.

"What?" Now it makes a lot of sense to Danny. Steve, just as any special warfare operator, must be a high target for certain 'parties'.

Rodgers doesn't have time to answer. He is on the horn with the captain of the vessel, telling him to intercept the 'Mirror' before she reaches international waters.

They can instantly feel how the boat speeds up. They can only hope they are not too late.

H50 – H50 – H50

_**Norton Assante's yacht**_

When Steve enters the main cabin, he is greeted by Norton Assante, who seems to be in a very good mood.

"Steve! Come in, come in. Please have a seat. What can we get you for breakfast?" Norton motions to a seat at the table right across from him.

"Thank you, but I think just some tea, maybe?" Steve tells the steward. He knows that he should eat something, but he highly doubts he could keep anything down right now.

"Nonsense, Steve. You have to eat. Bring our friend toast and fruits. Just something light. It will make you feel better," Norton tells his servant and looks at Steve with a smile. "And don't forget the tea."

Steve doubts that puking up toast and fruit will make him feel better. But maybe he can just nibble on the toast. He looks at Gloria, who sits next to her husband, looking like the loving wife and not like she tried to get into Steve's pants every chance she gets. And that ever since she laid eyes on him for the first time, seven months ago.

Next to her sits a guy Steve has never seen before. His first impression is that he's an associate of Norton's. Which gets confirmed a minute later.

"Steve, I don't think you have met Rashid Amir? He's a good friend of mine."

"No, I can't say I have. Nice to meet you Mr. Amir."

"Please call me Rashid. I have heard a lot about you. Norton is very impressed by your abilities," Rashid tells him in perfect English. "Breaking into the Installation on the weekend was brilliantly executed."

"Thank you. You're from England?"

"I have lived in England for many years; it's hard to lose the accent," Rashid tells him with a smile but doesn't elaborate further where he is originally from.

"Yeah, I can imagine." Steve turns to the steward who is back with his breakfast, "Thank you." For the next couple of minutes, he listens to Norton and Rashid talking about meaningless topics from the weather to the latest Polo results, while he drinks his orange juice, tea and nibbles on his toast.

Gloria has been watching him like a hawk for the last five minutes. It's creepy, and he wished for her to be anywhere but here. Something is up, and it makes Steve nervous that he doesn't know what is going on.

They get interrupted by one of the crew a minute later, "Sir, ten minutes."

"Thank you. I'm sorry to cut this short, Commander," Norton says as he stands up from the table and snaps his fingers.

Before Steve can prepare himself, he is hauled from his chair by the two goons who were standing in the back. They were always present whenever he met with Assante, but now they are way closer than he likes.

They grab him by his arms, which causes the pain in his shoulder to erupt again. He almost cries out when they push him against the wall and hold him there by pressing his shoulders flat against the unrelenting wall.

"What the fuck, Norton," Steve pants out. His shoulder feels like it is on fire, and he's pretty sure the collarbone snapped from the sheer force his left shoulder was treated to.

"I'm sorry, Steve, but we don't have much time. Gloria, will you do the honors?"

"With pleasure," Gloria says and moves in close to Steve. "Just relax, Steve. I promise it will be easier on you."

Steve looks at Gloria and can't keep his breathing from speeding up. Her eyes are glazed over, and he's pretty sure she has taken some kind of drug. She is so close they are breathing the same air. Her hands are all over him, and he struggles against the two guys holding him in place when she opens his belt buckle. She deftly opens the buttons on his fly, and he sucks in a breath when she not so gently pulls his pants down. Leaving him just in his briefs.

He tries to keep his cool when she steps even closer and places her thigh in a delicate position. He growls when she increases the pressure to an uncomfortable level.

"Gloria, that's enough." Norton steps closer and makes it very clear that it's his turn now.

Steve braces himself as best he can, but it still hurts when she pulls her knee up in frustration, and he can't quite keep the groan in. Steve bends forward, but is halted by the two goons who seem to enjoy his suffering.

"You better hold still now, Commander; I don't want to cut in a wrong place," Assante has stepped in and kneels in front of Steve.

Steve looks down at the k-bar in Assante's hand and stops his attempt to break free before he even moved a muscle. Steve is sure that he wouldn't be very effective anyway, not with his pants around his ankles, and a knife very close to a body part he is very fond of.

Assante puts his left hand on Steve's upper thigh and cuts away the bandage with one swift move of the k-bar. The wounds under it are slightly red. But Norton doesn't pay any attention to the smaller one; he is only interested in the stitched up wound. "This will hurt… hold still," Norton tells Steve.

Steve sucks in a breath when the cold metal cuts the two stitches and is pushed into the wound. His leg starts to tremble when Norton pushes the blade deeper into the wound, twisting it a little to dig the small GPS device out. Blood is running down the leg and the muscles are contracting from the pain caused by the knife. Steve's not sure what hurts more, the shoulder constantly jostled by the goon that is holding him upright, or his leg being cut open by Norton.

"Got it," Norton exclaims in triumph and holds the device up. "Gloria, patch him up. I don't want him bleeding all over the place," he tells his wife as he steps back from the now semiconscious Steve and leaves the cabin with Rashid.

If Norton's men weren't holding him up, Steve is sure he would be on the floor by now. His leg can't bear his weight, and the pain in his shoulder is at a point that is causing his vision to gray again. He snaps awake when Gloria uses an antiseptic wipe to clean the blood off his thigh. It stings even worse than the cutting and he can't help but groan.

"I'm sorry. I promise I'll be done in a minute." Gloria looks up at him with sad eyes.

Steve wonders what is going on with her, one minute she wants to devour him and the next she looks sad and caring. He hisses again when she presses gauze on the slightly bleeding wound and fixates it with a tight bandage around his thigh.

"Almost done," she tells him and pulls his pants back up.

She's taking her time closing the buttons and the belt, all the while staying as close as possible. After giving a last pat on the freshly bandaged leg she steps back to admire her work. "Almost no blood on your pants. I think I did good, don't you agree?" Gloria looks at Steve and seeing that he's not going to answer, she continues, "Well, you can thank me later. If you're still alive then."

Steve is still waiting for an opportunity to overpower his two captors, but so far they haven't presented him with an opening. As long as the one on the left has his arm and shoulder in a vise grip and causing an almost overwhelming amount of pain, Steve won't be able to do much at all. At least the pain in his leg is down to a throbbing, which won't hinder his movements much.

The next second Steve is almost too surprised to react when the moron on the right lets go of his arm. But Steve only needs a second to recover and ram his elbow into goon number one's throat. He makes a gurgling noise and goes down, unable to breathe. Steve feels sorry for him knowing that he has seriously injured him. He may have even killed him with the hit, but this is about his life. He has no doubt that if he doesn't incapacitate them, they will kill him.

Steve turns and rams his right knee into goon number two. The guy grunts in pain but doesn't go down. Steve would normally have followed the kick with a hit to his opponent's neck, but standing on his injured leg threw him slightly off balance, and his opponent didn't bend down. So his neck was not a reachable target. Steve throws a punch at his face instead, but he easily avoids the sluggish hit, and counters with a well-placed punch to Steve's injured shoulder. It is instantly followed by a hard hit to the stomach that causes Steve to double over. Which gives him an advantage he didn't see coming. Goon number two bends down to finish him off but instead makes painful contact with Steve's head. Steve throws the back of his head into the punk's face and is very happy to hear the crunching noise of a breaking nose.

Steve ignores the pain that explodes in his head from making contact with his opponent's nose and rams his elbow into his gut. It makes him go down with a pained grunt. A kick to his head takes care of the rest of the consciousness he was still clinging to.

_Two down, one to go._ Steve thinks as he grabs the gun from the man's belt he just knocked out. Goon number one passed out just a moment before his friend. Steve stands up on shaky legs to look for Gloria when he freezes at the scene in front of him.

"That was quite impressive, Commander McGarrett. I didn't think you could still fight like that, even though I have been warned about you. But I think we both know that you will surrender your weapon right now," Assante says and presses his gun a little harder into the temple of his hostage.

H50 – H50 – H50

_**U.S. Coast Guard vessel**_

"How long will it take to get there, damn it?" Danny Williams calls out after they watched with growing horror what was happening on the yacht before the video went black.

"ETA, two minutes," Lieutenant Denver tells them." Get ready to board.

Danny looks at the sailor manning the machine gun that is mounted on the deck of the boat and hopes that they won't need it. Those guns can make a mess, and one can never be sure who might get hit. Shuddering for a moment thinking back to the second his bullet tore into his friend.

He looks at Chin and Kono; he knows they feel just like he does. Anger bubbles up in him when he thinks about the scenes from just a few minutes ago when their friend was abused and injured. And he can see the same anger in his two colleagues. He can even see it on the faces of the captain and lieutenant who are just as eager to reach the yacht as he is.

"Almost there," Kono calls out and points to the yacht idly sitting in the calm waters.

Nothing seem to be amiss and Danny gets a really bad feeling about all this. They approach the yacht, and he can hear one of the sailors calling over to the eerily quiet yacht.

"U.S. Coast Guard, prepare to be boarded!"

There is no reaction or anyone to see. The coast guard boat matches the speed of the 'Mirror' and they get ready to go on board. A moment later Danny jumps onto the deck and covers Kono who jumps on next, followed by Chin. Half a minute later all eight have boarded the yacht and are spreading out.

One of the sailors enters the bridge, and shuts down the engine. They still haven't encountered anyone. A few minutes later it is clear that the yacht is not manned.

Danny enters the main room and finds Chin leaning over computer equipment. "Chin, what do you have?"

"Steve was never here."

"What are you talking about? We got his signal and we had the video feed. Where the hell did they all go?" Danny asks.

"I don't think they ever were on this boat. Look at this," he says and motions to the monitor.

Danny steps closer and can now read what the screen says: 'Have a nice day.'

"What the hell? Chin?"

"They re-routed the feed and the GPS to this location. They were never on this boat."

"Then where the hell are they?"

"I have no idea. They could be anywhere," Chin answers and looks at Danny. "They cut the link, there is no way to find out where it originally came from. We could even be on the wrong side of the island. Or they may not even be at sea at all. Danny, I simply don't know."

Danny looks up when the two Navy guys enter, "What now?"

He didn't expect an answer, and he's not getting one.

H50 – H50 – H50

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_**Thank you all so much for reading. Let me know what you think. **_


	8. Chapter 8 Waiting

**Treason – Chapter 08 – Waiting**

**Norton Assante's yacht 'Mirror', north of Oahu**

Danny is pacing again, something he seems to be doing a lot of in the last twenty-four hours. But there is not much else to do right now. They are waiting to hear from Pearl, hoping that they have picked up something on the satellites. Anything that might give them a clue about Steve's location. So far, they have nothing. It's like Assante and his crew fell off the face of the earth.

Danny looks around the main cabin and thinks that the name of the yacht is more than fitting. This room is a perfect mirror to the one they have been watching on the video feed. In fact, the whole yacht is identical to whatever boat Steve is on. The Navy is now looking for just this kind of boat, but the waters around Hawaii are wide, and as far as they know, they might not even be out at sea anymore.

"Kono, did you find anything?" Danny asks when Kono comes back into the cabin.

"No, nothing that indicates Steve was ever on this yacht. Have you found anything in here?"

"No. How could they have lost Steve like that? I thought they had everything under control? And now what? Steve is out there, alone and injured," Danny says as he keeps pacing. The anger toward his friend about being lied to has turned into worry.

"We will find him, Danny."

"How? They have no idea where he is…"

"Steve will find a way to contact us, or his CO. I mean he doesn't know that we are involved…"

"I know, Kono. I can't get over the fact that he thinks he's alone in this. And I realized that it must have been hard for him to keep this to himself." Danny looks at Kono and confesses what has really been bugging him since last night, "I just left, Kono. At the brig, I left without another word. I now realize that it was part of his plan to keep me away. But, Kono, I'm telling you, he looked devastated. I just didn't see it back then. I just left him there."

Kono looks at Danny and doesn't know what to say. She knows that Danny was really angry at his best friend for being kept in the dark, but she also knows that he is more worried about him than anything else. There really isn't much she can do, so she tries to get their focus back on the case. "Danny, what do you think happened after Steve knocked those two guys out?"

They had seen what happened after Steve had been grabbed, but the video went black after he turned around with the gun in hand.

"I don't know, but he looked shocked. Whatever he saw made him surrender in a heartbeat." Danny remembers vividly the look on his partner's face. Steve had lowered his gun just a moment before the screen went black. "Do we have the list of ships yet?"

"No, not yet. Chin is with Denver and will tell us as soon as he knows anything."

"That's good." Danny pauses for a moment, stops his pacing and looks at Kono, "They are not going to kill him. I mean if you are right, and they want to sell him they need to keep him alive, right?"

"Yeah."

He looks at Kono and can see the doubt in her eyes. She is probably thinking along the same lines he is. If they think they are in trouble they will get rid of Steve, one way or the other. His sullen thoughts are interrupted by Chin.

"The Navy is done with their search. There are no ships in the area from countries that might qualify to have an interest in Steve."

"If they are not en route to a rendezvous point, what are their plans?"

That is a question neither Chin nor Kono can answer.

H50 – H50 – H50

_**Norton Assante's yacht 'Reflection' – 12 miles south of Oahu **_

Steve looks in shock at his mother, and is ashamed of questioning for a second if she is a real hostage or if she is involved in the scheme. He doesn't have much time to ponder that question; the one whose nose he busted comes to and is getting back to his feet.

"Mark, secure him," Assante tells his helper.

"My pleasure," Mark goes to work right away, and he's not gentle about it.

Steve is forced to put his hands behind his back, which is not easy with a bullet in the shoulder. After he is restrained, Mark steps back in front of him and even though Steve was pretty sure about what was going to happen, he goes down to his knees after the hard punch to the gut. A hit to the face follows and that one almost topples him over.

"Please stop. Please don't hurt…"

Steve looks up in rage when he hears the slapping sound, and sees his mother going down after being hit by Assante. Not caring about the consequences he charges at Mark, but has no chance against him. Blood loss, pain and losing control after seeing his mother get hurt, diminish his fighting chance to nil. Mark is landing hit after hit on Steve's unprotected front, and it only takes a minute for Steve to lie on the floor, fighting to stay conscious and cursing himself for his stupidity.

The last thing Steve registers is Norton calling for Mark to stop, but it's too late for him to stop his last kick to Steve's head. Knocking him out instantly.

H50 – H50 – H50

_Stupid, stupid, stupid._ Steve thinks it like a mantra. It was a really stupid move to go after Mark in his condition. He is barely able to put one foot in front of the other as he is dragged along by Mark and another guy whose name he doesn't know. They have a strong hold on his arms, and it's the only thing keeping him upright.

He can hear his mother right behind him, but he hasn't been able to look at her since he regained consciousness a minute ago. When they reach the yacht's stern Steve looks down at the speed boat, the same one he arrived on just a few hours earlier.

"Get in there," Mark tells him and shoves him down into the small boat.

Steve can't keep his balance and crashes down onto the deck, coming to rest almost in the same spot he passed out after he was shot at the harbor. He is now lying on the side, trying to stay conscious and takes a look at his mother, who is sat down in a seat across from him. The boat is not a big one; it only has four seats and the small deck space Steve is lying on.

"Let's go," Assante tells Mark and sits down in one of the seats, next to Rashid Amir, who is watching Steve with a look full of anticipation. Gloria is the only one who doesn't seem interested in him at the moment. That is just as well with Steve right now.

A moment later they are speeding across the ocean and every wave they hit sends daggers of pain through Steve's battered body. He lies on the deck completely unprotected, not able to avoid being tossed around. Steve rolls onto his stomach, but it doesn't prevent him from hitting the deck repeatedly, whenever the boat bounces back onto the water after lifting off. Mark doesn't seem to be a good skipper, or maybe he's doing it on purpose.

There is one good side effect of the constant jostling; it keeps Steve from slipping into unconsciousness. Every time his brain threatens to check out on him, he is shaken by the bouncing boat. It makes him groan in pain, but the pain is not bad enough to pass out from it. So, this time pain is a good thing. Steve knows that he didn't get seriously injured from the beating he took, just bruised all over. His only concern is the growing blood loss; that is something he can't fight against. The pain he can push down and ignore or use to his advantage, but he wouldn't be able to keep his body from going into shock if the blood loss reached a critical amount.

It seems that he zoned out for a few minutes after all. The next thing he is aware of is being hauled up from his prone position. He looks around a bit disoriented, the only thing he can see is a dark blue wall right in front of him. It takes him a moment to realize they have come alongside a big ship. They are too close to see a flag or the name of the ship. Steve is not sure, but he thinks it's a medium-size containership. Judging from the direction they are heading it's on its way to Honolulu Harbor.

Steve doesn't have time to ponder what that means for them. A hatchway next to a small platform opens, and they are greeted by two sailors.

"Boas-vindas, Senhor Assante," one of them greets Norton in Portuguese.

"Thank you. Please take Commander McGarrett to the prepared room and make sure he is secured," Assante answers in English.

Steve knows that Assante doesn't speak much Portuguese even though his wife is from Brazil. Hearing the sailors talk in their native language makes it pretty clear that they are boarding a ship under Brazilian flag. Which means they are now out of US jurisdiction as long as they are on board a ship under the flag of a sovereign state.

Which also means that Assante is out of their reach. Brazil doesn't extradite people who have children in Brazil. And Norton is not only married to a local girl, but they have two young children back in Fortaleza. Assante also has his biggest manufactory in the city on the northeast coast of Brazil. And he owns two containerships with their home port of Fortaleza.

Steve is angry that he was not informed that one of Norton's ships was sailing to Hawaii. That is a neglect that will have dire consequences not just for him now, but if they magically survive he will make sure for the responsible party as well. NI should have known about this. The ship should have been under surveillance. But that knowledge doesn't help him much as he is pushed along the hallway. The sailor leading him opens another hatch to a small cargo room.

The air greeting them is stale and hot. He is pushed into the room and can't avoid falling over the bulkhead, landing with a thud on the floor. Without being able to protect himself from the fall he connects painfully with the deck. The last thing he hears before passing out is the sailor cursing that he has to carry him the rest of the way.

H50 – H50 – H50

"McGarrett!... Commander!... Come on, wake up!... Ah, there you are… welcome back."

Steve looks up at Norton Assante, who has stopped poking him with the baseball bat he now holds loosely in his hand. Steve blinks a few times to get the scene in front of him into focus. He feels heavy and lethargic, kind of detached from the present. It's hard to even raise his head that had dropped to his chest while he was unconscious. His arms are bent behind his back and obviously secured with rope to the backrest of the steel chair he is sitting on.

His head is throbbing wildly, and his thinking process is a bit sluggish, as are his movements. It's a monumental effort to keep his head up.

Norton looks rather outraged and stares at Steve with a murderous look on his face. "Where is it?"

"Wah'?"

"Oh, you want to play dumb? Be my guest," Norton says and turns to his ever-present bodyguard.

Steve has to grin at seeing his swollen and bloody nose. While Steve watches Norton and Mark he tries out the binding of his hands and must say that whoever did that knew what he was doing. He has very little leeway, but with time he might get somewhere.

When the bodyguard leaves, Norton turns back to Steve. He brings his bat up and pushes it forcefully into Steve's left shoulder, waking the pain in it, that up until now, had only been a mild throbbing.

Steve keeps the groan in but can't keep his body from slightly trembling. He knows that he has lost a good amount of blood and that any further bleeding would be cause for worry; slipping into shock due to blood loss being only one concern.

The hatch opens again and his mom is shoved into the room, falling to her knees when she stumbles over the clutter lying on the floor. Her hands are bound behind her back, so she barely avoids falling completely to the floor.

Anger wells up in Steve at seeing her treated like that. "Leave her alone."

"Well, Commander, that is completely up to you. Isn't it?" Norton again pushes the bat into Steve's shoulder, and this time Steve can't keep the groan in.

"You hurt her, and I'm going to kill you."

"Now, now, Steve, you are in no position to make a threat like that," Norton tells Steve with a grin on his face while swinging his bat into his open palm.

"It's not a threat. It's a promise."

"Really?" Norton swings his bat and it connects with Steve's chest, just under his breastbone, causing a whooshing sound when all air is pressed out of his lungs.

Steve automatically tries to bend forward but is halted by his restrained arms. He tries to take a deeper breath but only manages small little gasps.

"Didn't your mother teach you not to make any promises you can't keep?" Norton turns away from Steve and orders Doris to be placed on a chair opposite Steve.

Steve looks at his mother, now sitting in a similar fashion about five feet from him. He tries to smile at her, trying to tell her that everything will be okay. Even though he is not sure at the moment that they will actually make it out of this alive.

"Now, Commander, I know you are trained to withstand torture, and I'm sure you have had the opportunity to prove that. But you see, Amir is quite the expert with the ability to 'extract' information, and he practically begged me to give him a shot at you." Norton's face can only be described as gleeful when he continues, "He has questioned a few captives before and his greatest regret has always been that he has never had the pleasure with a SEAL."

Contrary to many people's belief, Steve has only had to endure torture once, at the hands of Wo Fat. Aside from his training with the SEALs, he has never been captured or been a prisoner of war. And he has no desire to broaden his experience.

"Like Amir, I don't believe in drug aided questioning. One can never be sure what people will tell you while under the influence. And it is a lot harder than you would believe to get your hands on the good stuff. So, I'm afraid we will do this the old-fashioned way." To underline his statement Norton swings the bat again. This time it connects with Steve's upper left thigh. Not hard enough to break the femur, but hard enough to leave an ugly and painful bruise. Steve knows from experience that bruised muscles are very painful and enough hits to the leg can incapacitate a man just as much as a broken femur would.

He breathes through the pain the hit causes and glares at Norton. "What do you want?"

"The stuff you put on the Five-0 server is useless. I want the real data."

"You think I'm stupid? The minute I give you that information, we're both dead," Steve tells him and prepares for the next hit. And he doesn't have to wait long. The bat comes down again, this time a little closer to the knee. Which means fewer muscles to protect the bone.

Steve tries to still his trembling leg but is not very successful with it. The muscles contract due to the damage from the blows; it's something he can't control. Steve hangs his head for a moment to control his breathing and to push down the pain.

"Steve… you should think about your next answer very carefully. You know, I think letting your mother watch you suffer is more effective than using her as my target." Norton stands next to Doris and looks down at her. "But, Rashid might not think along that line."

"You touch her…"

"And what? You gonna threaten me again, huh?" Norton yells as he steps closer and swings his bat again. This time landing the blow very high up on Steve's inner left thigh, barely missing another vital part of his anatomy.

_Fuck!_ Steve is not sure if he said that out loud or not, but that hit really hurt. But as long as he is hitting him, Norton is leaving his mother alone.

"I told you it was not a threat," Steve groans out.

"Oh, yeah right, I forgot. It was a promise." Norton steps close to Steve and bends down to his ear, "You listen to me, you son of a bitch, I know what you did. You stole that stuff with my help and want to sell it to someone else. Is that it?"

Norton steps back and Steve can only stare at him, does he really believe he stole the data? Up until know Steve was sure he had been made, that they had found out about him being undercover. But suddenly he is not so sure anymore.

"I thought we should negotiate the conditions again. And it seems that I was right. You took the data from the server, now didn't you?" Steve tries his luck with challenging Norton.

Assante laughs out loud before he answers, "I thought getting the data for nothing and selling you to Amir would be a great deal. You surprised me by hiding the plans somewhere else. How did you do that? And who is keeping track of you? Your partner?"

Steve only looks back and doesn't answer. He transferred the data to a very secure location, and didn't even tell his CO about his slight changing of the plans. He had the suspicion that he had been compromised by his own people, something he is still not sure about. But better be safe than sorry.

"So, will you tell me where the data is?"

"No."

"Fine, have it your way." Assante turns to Doris, "I apologize for what you are about to see. I wouldn't wish for anyone to witness this. Especially not having to watch your own son go through it." Norton shakes his head and turns to Mark. "Douse him."

Mark leaves for a moment only to come back with a hose in hand. A few seconds later Steve is soaking wet from head to toe. The cold water is almost welcomed; it cools his too warm body down. But he is pretty sure they didn't do it to bring down his body temperature that is elevated from a fever.

Mark takes the fire hose back out to its place next to the hatch, and comes back with Rashid Amir in tow. Rashid carries a small duffel bag and puts it on the floor a little to the side.

"Commander, it's such a pleasure to spend some time with you. I'm sure I will enjoy the time very much. You? Not so much, I'm afraid," Rashid says as he opens the zipper on the duffel and takes a small black box out of it. It is the size of a cell phone and has two silver plates on one side.

Steve has seen those devices after a raid in Afganistan. And he knows damn well what they are used for. He looks at his mother and wishes with all his heart that she wouldn't be a witness to what is to come.

H50 – H50 – H50


	9. Chapter 9 The Delivery

_**Happy New Year to all of you. Wishes for health, happiness and love, and may all your wishes come true.**_

* * *

_**It's been a while since the last chapter, so you might like to get back to chapter 8 before you read this one. Just kidding.**_

_**Be aware, this is what I have warned about in my disclaimer. It's not for everyone. It's not graphic, but I guarantee you it's not an easy read. So, you have been warned. Seriously.**_

_**Oh, I almost forgot, I updated my profile. So, in case you like to know what comes next...**_

* * *

**Treason – Chapter 09 – The Delivery**

_**Aboard the 'Fortuna' – A Panamax-class container-ship under the flag of Brazil**_

"Ah, Commander, I can see that you know the purpose of these instruments," Rashid says as he takes a second black box out of the duffel bag. "Have you ever seen them in use?"

Steve only looks at him without saying a word. It wouldn't make a difference anyway. He knows what's coming, and wonders for a moment if it is the right time yet.

"I'm sure you came across these during your time with your Intelligence Service, yes? Well, today you will experience them in action."

Steve can't keep his heart from speeding up. It's not the prospect of the pain he is going to experience that sends his system into overdrive. It's the knowledge of his mother having to watch. And he is damn sure that Rashid will use a modified device, and not a standard model. There is no way of telling what it will actually do to him.

"Please don't do that to my son," Doris speaks up for the first time since she was brought in.

"Well, that is up to him. He only has to tell us what we want to know, and he doesn't have to suffer. Now, shall we begin?" Norton seems very eager to move along.

Rashid steps closer to Steve and checks the rope first. "We don't want you to get out of this chair, now do we?"

Steve has been working on the rope the whole time, but didn't get far. He thinks he has a little more room to move his wrists a tiny fraction, but that alone won't do him any good. Steve can already feel that his wrists are raw, and it won't take long before he draws blood.

Rashid stands next to Steve and presses the small device onto Steve's skin around the area of his right kidney. He peels off the clear film off the sticky surface, and the device now sits snugly in its place. Steve wonders for a second where he will place the second one. He gets his answer a moment later when Rashid fumbles with Steve's belt, pulls the pants and underwear out of the way and places the box center mass low on his belly.

"Okay, we're all set," Rashid says as he steps back. He takes another box out of the duffel bag that looks like a remote control. It has a few buttons and a digital display on it. "We will start low, just to test if everything is working," Rashid tells the people in the room and plays with the buttons for a moment. He then grins at Steve and presses one of the buttons.

The effect is immediate. Steve jerks on the chair and cries out when the current hits him from two sides at the same time. The burst is only a second long and only of low intensity, but the placement of the devices causes immense pain even at that low level. When it is over, Steve hangs his head and takes a deep breath.

_Fuck._ Steve knows that he has to endure a few hours of torture before he can offer a deal. It would not be believable if he gave in too soon. If he wants his plan to work he has to suffer first. There is no way around it. Knowing that this is part of his newly formed plan makes it a little easier, but not by much.

"Now, listen to me. This is how it's going to go. McGarrett! Are you listening?" Rashid slaps Steve across the face to get his attention.

Steve doesn't say anything; he doesn't think anything is expected anyway. He looks over to his mother and can see her distress. She's struggling against her ropes, and he wishes she would stop. She will only hurt herself, or will be hit again for her struggles.

"I will ask you a question, McGarrett, and every time you fail to give me a satisfactory answer, I will use this device. You understand that I will increase the intensity with every jolt?" Rashid plays again with his remote control. "To make this more interesting and enjoyable for Norton, he will hit you every time you scream. Norton please show him how you will assist me." Rashid motions for Assante to demonstrate.

Which he does. Norton steps closer and swings his bat again. It impacts painfully on Steve's left thigh, right on the already forming bruises, causing Steve to grunt in pain.

Steve knows a few more hits to his leg, and he will not walk out of here on his own.

"Now, shall we begin?" Rashid turns the device on, and Steve can already feel his heart rate accelerating. "Tell me where you stored the data."

"No," Steve says and looks straight at Rashid, avoiding his mother's gaze.

Steve can keep quiet for ten minutes, but after that he screams with every jolt of electricity that races through his body. He has never felt pain like that before; the pain in his back is overwhelming and the agony down his front leaves him trembling and shaking.

Not even to mention his left leg, which feels like it is shattered in pieces. He is not really coherent the last few minutes; the voices are drifting in and out of focus. And the next jolt is his undoing. Or his salvation. He blissfully passes out.

H50 – H50 – H50

_**Five-0 Headquarters, 11 a.m.**_

Chin, Kono and Danny enter their offices after they returned to Oahu half an hour earlier. The 'Mirror' is now down by the docks, and NCIS has taken over the 'crime scene'. The Five-0 agree that NCIS won't find much, if anything on the yacht.

"Kono, Chin, we need to know everything there is to know about Assante. Who are his contacts here in Hawaii, what kind of business is he running… you know the drill." Danny is looking at his two colleagues, they all know that they first need to know their enemy before they can beat him. Or in this case find him.

"Detective Williams?" A FedEx delivery person enters headquarters and calls out to Danny.

"Yeah, that's me."

"I have a registered parcel for you," the FedEx man says and scans the mail. After Danny signs for it, he hands it over. "Have a nice day, Sir."

"Thanks," Danny watches the guy leave and then looks down to the envelope.

"Danny, who's it from?" Kono wants to know.

"Sterling & Tucker."

"That's a law firm, right?" Chin says.

"Yeah, one of the larger ones. Steve mentioned them once; I think a friend of his is one of the associates. I only know his first name, Brandon."

"Open it, Danny." Kono seems very eager to know what's in the mail.

Danny turns it over in his hands and studies it from all sides, very much to Kono's annoyance. He looks at the time stamp and checks for any notes on the white envelope. Even though it was delivered as a registered parcel it is just a letter-sized cardboard envelope, about half an inch thick.

"Are you going to open it, or what?" Kono's patience is obviously at an end.

Danny looks around to make sure they are alone, and carefully rips the envelope open. In it he finds a flash drive and a folded piece of paper.

"What does it say?" Chin asks.

Danny unfolds the letter and starts reading, "_Danno,_

_If you get this package, then something went terribly wrong, and I need your help. I will contact you as soon as I can. Please keep this flash drive in a secure place until you hear from me._

_You might be contacted by Captain Rodgers or Lieutenant Denver, or someone from NI, but please don't tell them you heard from me. For my plan to work they can't be involved; I don't trust them with my safety._

_And Danny… I'm sorry. I know it's not enough, but I am truly sorry._

_Steve,_" Danny finishes the handwritten letter.

"When had he time to send the letter?" Chin asks.

"We need to call the law firm. I'm sure Steve made some arrangements. Chin, can you see what's on the drive?" Danny asks and hands Chin the small device.

"Sure, I'll try."

A minute later it's clear that they won't get anything from the drive. It's password protected and the screen warns them that the content will be erased after three failed attempts to enter the correct password.

While Chin tested the flash drive, Danny called the law firm and is now waiting to get connected to Brandon Troy.

"Detective Williams, how can I help you?" They hear a soft-spoken voice over the speaker phone.

"Mr. Troy, you are on speaker. I have a few questions about a letter I received," Danny tells him.

"Yes, Detective, of course. Steve said that you would probably call. I will answer all your questions if it helps Steve."

"What do you know about his situation?" Danny wants to know. He thinks it's rather odd, that Brandon obviously knows that his partner is in trouble.

"Nothing, Detective. I just assume that Steve is in trouble?"

"You could say that. Mr. Troy, when did Steve give you the envelope and why and when did you send it?"

"Steve came by my office yesterday morning, around nine. He gave me the envelope and told me he would call me daily between eleven and noon. If he failed to do so, I was supposed to mail the letter. Which I did when he didn't call me yesterday."

"Did he tell you anything else? Anything at all?"

"No, he didn't. Only that it was very important to mail the letter right away if he hadn't called by noon. We chatted a few more minutes, made plans to go for a beer on Friday, and then he left. I'm sorry I'm not of more help."

"Thank you, Mr. Troy. And you did help us. Please call us if you think of anything else that might be of importance," Danny tells him and ends the call.

"So, Steve had a contingency plan?" Kono wonders aloud.

"They are trained to have a contingency plan for their contingency plan, and if that doesn't work they probably have plans c and d," Chin had been a witness to some of Steve's planning of little OPs with Five-0. He always wondered what the planning of a SEAL team would look like. He knows that Steve plays every possible scenario out before they go in hot. But all the planning can't prevent failure from time to time.

"Yeah, well that is all nice and good, but how the hell will he contact us?" That was a question none of them had an answer to.

H50 – H50 – H50

Steve splutters when the cold water hits him. He coughs and tries to calm down his breathing. He tries to take a few deep breaths, but the air in the small cargo room has gotten stale. It smells of rusty metal, sweat, vomit and urine. It is nauseating, and Steve can hear Assante ordering one of his men to get some fresh air in. He hears the squeaking of the hinges and feels the breeze of fresh air. Sure, it is only the stale air from the hallway, but anything is better than what they have in here.

Steve makes the mistake of looking into his mother's tear stained face. He is not sure what is worse, the pain and humiliation he has to endure or seeing his mother being a witness to it. He keeps reminding himself, as long as they are torturing him, they leave her alone. But he is not sure how much more his body can take. His mind is still strong, but his body is not. He is shaking and trembling uncontrollably. Pain is shooting through his body, and his head feels like it is ready to explode. His vision is still graying around the edges, and it's almost impossible to raise his head.

The only good thing at the moment is that the gunshot wound hasn't started bleeding again. It seems that Norton's physician did a pretty good job with caring for it.

"Good, you're back. Now, let's resume our simple questioning. Where is the data?" Rashid asks what Steve feels like he has asked a hundred times already.

"Fuck you."

"We can arrange for you to get…" Rashid steps closer, not voicing the threat, but everyone knows that he would have no problem doing that to his prisoner.

"Please, no more. Please don't hurt my son," Doris lost her 'cool' an hour ago. She has seen her share of torture, and she's no stranger to inflicting pain to get information. But seeing her son going through such horror is too much even for her.

"I think you're right," Rashid says as he turns to her. "I think it's your turn now."

"NO! Leave her alone." Steve comes fully alert and struggles against the rope.

"Stop that," Rashid yells at Steve and presses the button.

It's only a jolt of low intensity, but Steve's so sensitive by now after all the shocks he has received that he almost passes out from what is just a tingling sensation. Rashid only grins. He knows that it would take very little to knock Steve out at this point.

"I'll going to tell you, please don't hurt her," Steve pants out after recovering a little from the latest abuse. It's time to set his plan in motion.

"I told you we should have started with her, Rashid," Norton says almost upset.

"Where's the fun in that?" Rashid only shakes his head at his impatient friend and turns back to Steve. "Now, tell us where the data is."

"You think I'm stupid?" Steve laughs at them. "I will tell you, as soon as I know my mother is safe."

"What makes you think we would let our leverage go?" Assante pipes in.

"You want the information or not? Let her go, and I will tell you."

"How will you know she is safe? And not still held hostage?"

"Norton, really?" Steve smiles at Assante. "You will drop her off at Five-0 headquarters, and Detective Williams will call me with the information. I'm sure you will be able to make a cell phone untraceable?"

"Yes?" Norton is sure that his computer whiz will be able to provide them with such a phone.

"Give her the number and after I'm assured by my partner that my mother is with him, I'll tell you how to get the data."

"We would have to leave the ship, she knows where we are," Norton says and shakes his head.

"Are we docked yet? If we're in the harbor, you should change locations anyway. Customs should soon be all over this ship, right?" Steve is pretty sure that Norton had planned to leave the ship, but leave him behind. Now he has to take Steve with him.

It seems that Norton is debating whether those terms are acceptable or not. For certain this is not going as planned. Steve looks at him and can see that he has made up his mind, and he secretly has to smile that his plan is working so well.

"Fine. We will get her to your HQ," Norton tells Steve and turns to one of his men who is waiting in front of the cargo room. "Dennis, take Mrs. McGarrett to my cabin and wait there." He then turns to Doris, "If you want to see your son again, you had better do as you're told. We will put you in a cab, and you will go straight to Detective Williams and make him call the number we will give you."

Doris looks at Steve and for a second he is worried that she won't play along. But she nods and tries to smile at him.

"Yes."

"Dennis, take her, but don't take the cuffs off yet."

"Yes, Sir."

Steve watches Dennis and his mother leave; he hopes that everything will work out. He had a back-up plan all along, but his mother's involvement makes it a lot more complicated. He hopes that she is out of the equation now.

Assante turns again to one of his men, "Get Gloria down here. Tell her to bring new clothes for him. I want her to get him dressed and cleaned. That smell is unbearable," Assante says as he looks with disgust at the still dripping wet Steve.

Steve knows that it was not his fault. The electro shocks made him lose control, made him soil himself in vomit and urine. But still he feels ashamed that he wasn't able to prevent it. He flinches when Rashid steps up to him and pulls the first box off his back. He hisses in pain when he pulls off the one attached to his lower belly.

"I'm sure we will talk again, McGarrett. I will see you soon."

Steve watches Rashid leave and breathes a sigh of relief. It is short lived though, knowing that Gloria will be back soon. He is not looking forward to getting undressed by her, even though he will be glad to get rid of his wet clothes.

He thinks about Danny and hopes that he has received his little package by now. He has no doubt that his friend Brandon had sent it off as soon as the deadline for his call had been missed. Now he can only wait and hope that the rest of the plan will work out.

H50 – H50 – H50

* * *

_**A/N**_: The device Rashid uses is not made up. (I just modified it a little; I took the actual belt away.) A stun belt is a belt that is fastened around the subject's waist. It carries a battery and control pack, and contains features to stop the subject from unfastening or removing it. A remote-control signal is sent to tell the control pack to give the subject an electric shock. Some models are activated by the subject's movement.

Most stun belts restrain the subject's hands and have a strap going under the subject's groin to stop him from rotating the belt around the subject's waist and trying to deactivate it. Stun belts are not generally available to the public.

The electric shock is sent into the area of the kidneys for maximum effect. After more than two shocks the subjects lose the ability to control their bladder. Muscle and nerve damage is a regular occurrence. Internal injuries to the kidney are not unheard of.

Egypt, China, North Korea, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Turkey (the list is not complete) have said to use these devices officially in police interrogations.

The United States uses these devices to control prisoners.

Modified stun belts were found in many prison camps in Iraq and Afghanistan.

This information came from a report on CNN from two years ago and from the manufacturer's site. Also from a documentary about the United States Penitentiary, Administrative Maximum Facility (ADX), the Supermax in Florence, Colorado.


	10. Chapter 10 Getting ready

**Treason – Chapter 10 - Getting Ready**

_**Aboard the 'Fortuna' – Cargo bay**_

Steve is still bound to the chair and is dreading what he knows will happen soon. He was left alone a couple of minutes ago, and as soon as the hatch closed he started to struggle with all his might against the ropes. He can feel how his wrists are a little slippery by now. Sweat, water and the blood from the cuts the rope caused help him in his endeavor to loosen the binding around his hurting wrists. Steve is not able to put much force behind his struggle of his left arm because of the bullet still lodged in his shoulder, but he can feel how his right hand only needs a little more time to slip out of the thin rope.

His shoulder wound is kind of numb and doesn't hurt much, which is not a good sign. He has almost no strength in his left arm. Steve is seriously worried about the lack of feeling in his shoulder and arm. He knows the longer the bullet stays in there the more likely there will be lasting damage to the shoulder. He could lose range of motion, or even function of his arm. Those would be impairments that would end his career, both with the Navy and Five-0. At the very least it would end his work in the field. And Steve has no desire to go back behind a desk. Having been confined to desk duty for over six months was more than enough. Those months were hell for him. He doesn't mind paperwork, but doing nothing but paperwork was pure torture. Of course back then he had no choice.*

Steve's head snaps up when the hatch is opened. Gloria is back.

"Oh, Steve, you are a pitiful sight," Gloria says as she steps closer to the chair he is still bound to. "We need to change that. Raoul, cut the rope." Gloria looks expectantly at one of her men.

"Your husband said not to…"

"How is my husband expecting him to get dressed in new clothes while bound to a chair? Now, cut the rope."

Steve watches Raoul cut the cable binders that are used to keep him from kicking out. They are not tight, just enough to keep his ankles from slipping out of the binding. Steve carefully stretches his left leg out, and is glad that it obeys. The pain in his thigh is intense, but he is pretty sure that there are no fractures involved. If the leg holds his weight… well, he'll find out soon enough.

After a moment his hands are also free and he takes a look at his abused wrists. There are some deep cuts from the thin rope. They are bleeding slightly, but he knows they are not serious.

"Steve, please get up and follow me. And don't give Raoul a reason to put another hole into your body," Gloria tells him as she motions for him to stand up.

Steve weighs the odds of overpowering Raoul, but must admit that he is a smart one. He is not coming close enough for an attack, and his gun is trained on Steve at all times. There is no chance that Steve could get near him before he would be able to fire his weapon. So Steve follows Gloria's orders for now and painfully gets up to a standing position. The muscles in his upper leg scream in protest and he can't keep the leg from trembling. But so far he is able to stand unaided, swaying a little and his vision is a bit blurry, but he is standing. Something he was not really sure of. Steve makes his first step and has to fight to keep from crying out. But the leg is holding, and he bites down on the pain the limb causes. He also tries to ignore the discomfort the residue from the electro shocks are causing in his lower belly and back.

Steve follows Gloria through the hallways and wonders where she is leading him. He thought she would simply order him to undress and get new clothes on, but she seems to have other plans for him.

He starts limping in earnest after five minutes and uses the bulkheads for support. Steve tries to keep as much weight off his leg as possible, but he is sure he will not be able to keep up for much longer. For sure he won't be able to climb another ladder.

"Almost there," Gloria tells him as she stops in front of a cabin door. She unlocks it and motions for him to follow her in.

Steve looks around the small cabin, that is obviously not currently in use. There are no personal items lying around, nothing that would indicate anyone occupied the room lately.

"Steve, please get in the bathroom, take a shower and get dressed. I put clothes on the counter for you. Please hurry; we only have a few minutes."

That is not what Steve expected. He slowly makes his way over to the bathroom and closes the door behind him. It's a very small room, just big enough for a shower stall and other necessities. One look in the mirror shows him that he's a mess. His clothes are wet, dirty and the smell is still nauseating. Steve peels off his shirt and carefully unwraps the bandage from his shoulder. The wound underneath doesn't look as bad as he had feared. A little red around the edges, but it's not bleeding.

Steve strips out of his soiled pants and underwear, and steps into the shower stall after taking off the bandage around his thigh. He only stays under for a minute and is careful not to get his wounds too wet. It's a little challenging to towel himself off with just one working arm, but he manages. He throws the wet towel on the pile of dirty clothes and grabs the tee shirt that's waiting for him with other clothes just like Gloria mentioned.

He looks completely disbelieving at the items under the tee shirt. Next to a folded pair of underwear is a cell phone and a gun.

Not caring about the increasing pain in his shoulder and leg, he gets dressed in record time. Clad in jeans, tee shirt and sneakers on his feet, he leans his ear against the door and listens to Gloria talking to Raoul in their native language. He moves back as far as the room allows and it only takes a moment until he gets a connection with the number he called.

H50 – H50 – H50

_**'Fortuna' – Norton Assante's cabin**_

"Please can you take the cuffs off? They are very tight," Doris McGarrett pleads with her watchdog.

"No, shut up and sit down."

"Please, I can't feel my fingers anymore. Just loosen them a little. Please?" Doris looks at the man with pleading eyes and a lot of pain on her face.

"Okay, fine. I guess it can't hurt if I loosen them a little."

He had never been more wrong in his entire life. And he is about to find out.

Dennis steps close to Doris and gets his key out of his pocket; that is when Doris makes her move. He never even saw what hit him. He is down on the floor and out for the count before he could even get his defense up. One well-placed kick and a knock-out hit with both fists to the back of his head was all it took to send him into dreamland for the foreseeable future.

It only takes Doris a moment to find the key lying next to Dennis' prone form and unlock the handcuffs. "Never cuff hands in front, you dimwit," she whispers as she cuffs Dennis' hands and pockets the keys. She takes his gun and moves to the door. The only thing on her mind is to find her son and get the hell off this ship.

All the way to the cabin she had debated about making a move or playing along. It was obvious that Steve had a plan, but she came to the conclusion that his plan mostly included getting her to safety, without thinking about his own. And that was something she couldn't accept. She was not willing to ever lose her son again.

Of course she knows that he will be pissed at her for what she did, but she will deal with that later. Now she had to find him and make sure that he gets medical attention as soon as possible. He was holding his own at the moment, but she knew a gunshot wound, especially one with the bullet still in the body, was no laughing matter. She is sure that infection had already set in, and she doesn't even want to think about what the torture did to him.

When Dennis had led her out of the cargo bay she had heard Gloria talking to one of the men to get cabin 435 ready. So that was where Doris will be heading first. She is sure that is where Gloria had taken Steve.

Gloria. That woman will get what she deserves. No one will get away with abusing her son like she had without getting punished for it.

Doris carefully makes her way out of the cabin and goes in search for cabin 435. It is clear to her that she doesn't have much time. Assante will soon come for her and discover that she is gone. By that time she had to have found Steve, or she wouldn't get a chance to free him. She finds the companionway easily and silently closes the hatch behind her and disappears from view to make her way down the ladder to the lower deck where 435 should be located.

H50 – H50 – H50

_**Five-0 Headquarters**_

"Danny, do you want to lock the flash-drive into your safe?" Chin asks as he puts the small device onto the smart table next to Danny's phone.

Before he can answer though the phone rings and shows an unknown number. Danny hesitates for a second and then he takes the call and activates the speakers.

"Detective Williams."

_"Danny?"_

"Steve! Where are you? Are you okay?" Danny can't believe that his friend just calls him.

_"Danny, I don't have much time. Trace the phone; I'll try to keep it on me. I'm on a container ship down in the harbor. It's either the 'Fortuna' or the 'Natal', I don't know which. They both belong to Norton Assante. But I'm sure we will leave in a matter of minutes. Ugh…"_

"Steve? Steve!"

They can hear a pained groan and what sounds like someone getting sick.

_"Sorry,"_ a pain filled voice comes back over the speaker phone.

"Steve?"

_"Not doing so good right now… don't know if… you got my package?"_

"Yes, yes we did. What do you want us to do with it?"

_"Keep it safe, Danny. Don't come rushing in to rescue me, Danny. You have to keep your distance."_

"What? No, Steve. We'll get you out of there; Chin is already on the phone with Denning."

_"NO! No, Danny. We still don't know who the traitor is. We have to wait… or all those months were for nothing… please… I have a plan, please trust me. Just one more time. Please, Danny."_

Danny stays quiet for a moment, he wants nothing more than to rush in with guns blazing if necessary and get his injured friend out. But he knows that Steve went through a lot to get this traitor, and to abort this now…

_"Danny?"_

"Okay. Steve, we won't come in, but we will stay close by."

_"Thank you. Keep a trace on the phone, and don't call NI."_

"We won't."

_"My mom will tell you more…"_

"Your mom?" Danny interrupts his friend.

They hear knocking, and then again Steve's rushed voice, _"Danny, gotta go…"_

The line goes dead after that and they all stare at the phone.

"What the hell? What has Doris to do with this?"

"Danny, she was probably the hostage," Kono points out.

"That makes sense. But how would she contact us if she is also on the ship?" Danny asks.

"Maybe Steve made a deal with them? Let his mother go, get the data. Something like that," Kono gives her opinion.

They both look at Chin who had just finished his phone call with Governor Denning. "He said, and I quote 'Anything you need to get Commander McGarrett back safe and sound.' And he asked to be kept informed. But he practically gave us free reign."

"Great. Kono, call HPD and SWAT. But subtlety is the motto, NO visible presence. Chin, please inform customs. We can't have them swarm over that Container ship. They have to come up with a reason for a delay until we can join them."

"Join them?"

"What do you say of becoming a customs officer?" Danny grins at Chin.

"That's what I always wanted to do."

"Kono?"

"Just a sec, Duke," she says into her phone. "Yeah, Danny?"

"I'd like you to coordinate from here. And hopefully talk to Doris, if she ever comes here."

Kono doesn't look happy about not being part of the rescue team, but she knows that her role is just as important as the boys' one. "Sure, Danny."

"Good, then let's go and get our leader back."

H50 – H50 – H50

* * *

**Thank you all for reading. Next chapter... next week.**

_***After Treason is done I will post a tie-in to this story that will explain Steve's six months stint behind a desk.**_


	11. Chapter 11 Falling into place

_**Thank you all for reviewing the last chapter. If I have missed any reviewer and didn't respond, believe me, it was not intentionally. **_

_**A big thank you again to Cokie316 and Sherry57. They are doing much more than just beta-ing my work. Thank you.**_

* * *

**Treason – Chapter 11 – Falling into place**

_**Cabin 435 aboard the 'Fortuna'**_

Steve opens the bathroom door to a sight he did not expect. Gloria standing in the middle of the room, looking like a nervous wreck; and their watchdog Raoul slumped over in a chair.

"I knocked him out," Gloria says and motions to a soda can standing on the desk. "He won't wake up for a few hours."

"Did you put the phone and gun…"

"Yes. Please, you have to help me. I'm so sorry for what I had to do to you. But Norton, he…"

"Calm down," Steve interrupts the almost hysterical Gloria. He looks at her as he leans against the closed bathroom door; the pain in his leg is almost unbearable now. It's a good thing that the pants Gloria provided for him are a size too big or his leg wouldn't have fit into the pant leg. There is a lot of swelling, and his moving around doesn't make it any better. The pain from the abused muscles has increased immensely over the last few minutes, to a point that Steve won't rule out an injury to the bone itself. For sure not a complete fracture, he wouldn't be able to stand on a broken leg, but something is definitely wrong. "You shouldn't have knocked him out."

Steve's whole plan just went down the drain. Now he can't play along anymore; he needs to find another way to find out who Assante's source is. And he needs to get to his mother if she isn't off the ship yet. As soon as Norton finds out what his wife did, they will be screwed.

"Please, Commander, you have to help me. Norton is holding my children hostage. They are on the ship… he… he hit them. My boy has a broken arm because of him. I will do anything to save my kids. Please."

_This is getting better by the minute. Now he also has to rescue two children?_ "What are you talking about? How old are they?"

"Nine and five. They are two doors down. I have the information you are looking for. I know who is selling the information to my husband, and I can prove it," Gloria tells Steve and pulls a small book out of her pocket. "All his transactions from the last twelve months are in here. Names, dates, everything. I will testify against him, but you have to take my children and me with you."

It was no question for Steve that he would have helped her anyway, but getting Norton would be an added bonus. Although before he can respond there is movement at the door. The doorknob slowly turns and any second now someone will be coming into the cabin. Steve motions to Gloria to hush and to stand against the wall next to the door as he makes his way to the door as fast as his leg allows him. He just stands pressed against the wall, ready to grab any intruder when the door opens.

H50 – H50 – H50

_**U.S. Coast Guard, Sand Island, Joint Operation with U.S. Customs and Border Protection**_

"Chin, any change?" Danny looks over to the Lieutenant, who has just finished his conversation with one of the Coast Guard officers who are helping them in their operation with Customs.

"No, Steve is still on the ship. Or at least the phone is," Chin added as an afterthought.

"Captain, are your men in position?" Danny looks at the officer who is coordinating the operation.

"Yes. They are waiting with the guys from SWAT for the 'Go'. They are in one of the containers out of sight." Captain Underwood motions for the two Five-0 to join him at the window. They are in the Coast Guard offices on Sand Island, the ideal base for their operation; it is practically next door to the docked 'Fortuna'. "See the light blue container? Our guys are there."

Chin and Danny can easily make out the container and are glad to see that they are covered from view from the Fortuna, but still only a few yards away from it. If necessary they would be on the ship in a matter of seconds.

"Danny, how much longer do you want to wait? It's been forty minutes since our last contact. Don't you think we should have heard either from Steve or Doris by now?" Chin thinks that something went wrong, that Steve's plan was not going according to plan.

"When Customs is ready we will board the ship with a small group. Check out the situation. Get some Intel and then call in SWAT."

"We are ready whenever you are," Captain Underwood assured them.

"Good. Myers, are your men ready to go in?" Danny asks the officer from Customs Services. Five-0 had worked with him before and know that he is competent.

"We're ready, only waiting for you."

"Good, than let's do this."

Five officers from customs, plus Chin and Danny, both dressed as customs officers head out to board the ship for a 'routine' inspection.

H50 – H50 – H50

Doris acts on instinct alone when her arm is suddenly grabbed and she is pulled forcefully into the cabin. She connects somewhat painfully with the half open door, but manages to turn a little in the strong grip that is holding her wrist. Her knee finds its target which is answered by a pained groan, but the grip doesn't loosen. Instead she is shoved into the wall, her arm painfully twisted behind her back. That is when she hears her son's voice.

"Move and you're dead… MOM?!"

She is instantly let go and turns around to the sight of her son. Steve stands slightly bent forward with her gun loosely in his right hand that is now pointing towards the floor. He looks at her with pain filled eyes and pants out, "What the hell are you doing here?" as he goes down to his knees, finally giving in to the pain her knee caused.

"Steve!" she calls out and rushes to him. Gently rubbing his back she looks around the room, seeking out Gloria. Trying to figure out what was going on. "Steve, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"

"What do you think?" Steve grumbles as he gets back onto his feet. The pain in his leg is as strong as ever, but the other pain is already fading. "How did you get here?" Steve looks his mother over for visible injuries, finding none he looks at her expecting an answer.

"They are too stupid to cuff someone properly," Doris says and takes the gun back from Steve he took from her just a minute before.

Shaking his head Steve turns to Gloria, "Does Norton know that you brought me here?"

"No, he thinks we are next to his cabin, one deck above. He doesn't know we're here."

"So, we are safe for the moment?"

"I think so." She nods her head at him.

"Steve, what is this? Why is this woman not restrained, or better yet knocked out?" Doris obviously doesn't have much sympathy for Gloria.

"Her children are being held hostage two doors down."

"What? Are they okay?" Doris looks at Gloria.

"My husband is a terrible man. I need to get my children away from him. That is why we are here. I hoped to get away, but then your son came on board, and everything… I'm so sorry for what I had to do."

"It's okay. We will get your children." Doris looks at her son, "Steve, we have to go get them. Come on."

His mom's attitude changed so fast it makes his head spin. "Slow down, mom. We will get them." Steve is now heavily leaning against the table. The little 'fight' with his mother didn't help his leg and for sure not his shoulder. "Gloria, are they guarded?"

"No, they are just locked in the cabin."

"Good. Do you have a key?"

"Yes, Raoul had one." She shows the key she took from the still unconscious guard.

"Okay. Gloria, listen to me. Go over there and bring them here. Tell them to be really quiet. We will guard the hallway. Go, before they find out that their prisoners are missing. We don't have much time."

Steve opens the door and looks around the empty hallway, and motions Gloria to hurry. He watches her disappear into the cabin down the hall, and a minute later she comes back out with two kids in tow; a little boy and a bigger girl.

Steve closes the door after the three are in the cabin and looks at the little group. This is for sure not how he had envisioned his plan. Neither his mother nor two children and Gloria were in the equation.

"Do they speak English?"

"Yes, they do."

"Hi," Steve says as he kneels down in front of the two scared children. "I'm Steve, and this is Doris. We are here to help you. Would you like to leave the ship and go to the beach?"

"Yes," the girl whispers. And the little boy only nods his head.

"Okay. Then we will do that. You have to help us though. You have to be really quiet. No talking when we leave the cabin. You think you can do that?" Steve looks at the two with a reassuring smile.

"I can. But my sister is always talking," the little boy says.

"I'm not."

"Do you want to tell me your names?" Steve asks after seeing that they seem to warm up to him.

"My name is Nino," the little boy says and tentatively stretches his hand out staring at him with huge, dark blue eyes under a mop of black, wavy hair.

"Very nice to meet you, Nino." Steve smiles at the little boy and shakes his outstretched hand.

"I'm Luana," the girl pipes in. She doesn't hide behind her mother any longer and also shakes Steve's hand. She is the spitting image of her mother, but also has dark blue eyes. But her hair is a touch lighter than that of her little brother.

Steve learned long ago during his training with the SEALs, if you have to rescue children and have to take them any distance, you better make friends with them right away. It makes it so much easier. It never ends well if you have to carry a screaming and kicking child. If the kids trust you, they do what they're told. Mostly. Hopefully.

"Okay, listen up," Steve starts to say as he stands back up. Coming to his feet, he sways and would have fallen if his mother hadn't stepped in and steadied him.

Doris felt the heat radiating off him when she touched him a few minutes ago, but now almost hugging him, she is worried how warm he feels to the touch. Infection must have set in already.

"Thank you," Steve tells his mom after he finds his balance. The head rush surprised him and almost made him crumple back to the floor.

"What's the plan, Steve?" Doris asks, thinking the best way to keep Steve motivated is to distract him from his various injuries which must be painful.

"We are going to wait a few minutes. I'm calling Danny, and when they are in motion, we go."

Steve hopes that a group of customs officers will divert Norton's attention to that situation, and give them the opportunity to leave the ship the way they boarded. They are just one deck above the hatch through which they came in, and Steve hopes he will manage to get his group down there without incident, so they can be picked up by the waiting Coast Guard.

H50 – H50 – H50

* * *

_**Thank you so much for reading. We're getting closer to a showdown. All the groups are in position. They will make their move in the next chapter.**_

_**Has Norton figured out what his wife is up to? **_

_**Are they already on the search for Doris? **_

_**Will Danny and Chin be able to blend in with the customs officers? **_

_**And Steve, will he be able to escort his little group off the ship undetected? **_

_**I can promise you not everything goes as planned. ;-)**_


	12. Chapter 12 Showdown

_**First of all, I need to apologize to everyone who posted a review. I am so sorry that I didn't respond to any of you this time. But please believe me, I appreciate and cherish every single one of them.**_

_**RL is extremely hectic right now, and I don't know what to do first. I'm sorry I got a little behind in posting. But to make up for it, this one is really long.**_

_**I hope you will enjoy it.**_

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**Treason – Chapter 12 – Showdown**

"Steve." Danny halts the small group that is about to leave the Coast Guard offices to board the 'Fortuna', as he answers the phone.

"Danny, I need a diversion." He can hear Steve's voice over the phone.

"What do you mean? What are you talking about?"

Danny listens to Steve explain about the two children, his mother and Gloria and his plans to take them to the hatch close to the waterline.

"How will you avoid detection? Steve, I think it will be safer for you to hide on the ship until we can get you." Danny doesn't like the idea of his friend traipsing around the ship with children and women in tow.

"Danny, this is a container ship, there are very few places to hide five people. We only need to get one deck down; we are right above the hatch. Just get the Coast Guard down there, and we will be fine." Steve makes it sound so easy, but Danny is sure it won't be.

"Okay. What do you need us to do?"

Steve explains his plan to his friend about boarding the ship for a customs sweep and making quite a bit of ruckus to draw all the attention to that situation. That would give Steve's group the opportunity to leave the ship unseen. That, at least, is the plan.

"Danny, we also need the Coast Guard alongside, so we can leave the ship. Can you pull all this off in the next few minutes?"

"Well, my friend, since I know you so well, we are already in the process of boarding the ship with customs. Coast Guard is also waiting for our signal. Get ready to go in five minutes."

Danny can hear his friend sigh in relief.

"Thanks, Danny."

"Yeah," Danny wants to say more, but knows this is not the time. He is still torn between being incredibly pissed at his partner, and burdened with guilt and worry for shooting him.

Danny ends the phone call and turns to Chin and the customs officers. "Slight change of plans…"

After a very short briefing and calling in a few more officers, the group makes their way over to board the 'Fortuna'.

H50 – H50 – H50

Steve leans against the door and listens for any noises from the passageway. But listening for anyone coming their way is not the only reason he is leaning against the door. His battered body is screaming at him to lie down. It's a struggle to stay on his feet; his head is pounding, and his leg is now so painful that he's sure he will not make his way out of there unaided. The fever from earlier is getting worse, and chills continue to course through his body.

Steve knows he needs medical attention soon or the bullet in the shoulder could be the end of him. No vital organs were hit by it, but the infection that had set in is just as deadly. When the bullet hit, it took fabric from his shirt with it into the wound. That, the bullet itself and any dirt that found its way into the wound are what is causing the infection.

He closes his eyes for a moment and tries to put the pain and the ill feeling into the background. Not an easy task, but after a minute, he feels a little better and opens his eyes again. His gaze falls on the worried look his mother is giving him. Steve smiles encouragingly at her, but suspects that she knows what kind of shape he is in, no matter what kind of front he puts up for her.

"Nino, Luana are you ready to go?" Steve looks at the smallest members of their group and hopes the kids won't have to encounter any of Norton's men.

"Yes, Steve," Nino speaks for the both of them.

"Good. You remember now, you have to be really quiet and do exactly what we tell you. Okay?"

They both nod their heads, and grab one of their mother's hands.

Steve nods at Doris, who takes position at the end of their little band. He turns back to the door and slowly opens it, making sure that no one is in the passageway. He slides out of the door and positions himself next to it. The others follow him silently and fast. Doris closes the hatch, and Steve leads the little group the few feet to the ladder that leads below.

H50 – H50 – H50

Norton is outraged. He had just learned that Doris McGarrett had escaped and was no longer held in his cabin. The man entrusted with guarding her is lying at his feet writhing in agony after Norton used him as a punching bag when he had discovered that Dennis had been overpowered by the woman. The guard didn't have a chance against his raging boss. His hands were still cuffed behind his back; and blow after blow had rained down on him. He had been finished off by a vicious kick when Assante had gotten tired of hitting him.

"Find that woman! And get McGarrett in here," Norton yells at one of his men. He turns away from the downed man in disgust, "and get this piece of garbage out of my sight."

"Yes, Senor," his henchman is quick to tell him. "Get up!" Clearly Dennis will not come to his feet on his own, no matter how loud his buddy orders him to.

Two more of Norton's men come in and very unceremoniously haul their felled man to his feet and lead him out of the cabin.

Before Norton can bellow any other orders, his cell phone interrupts him. "Yes?... Damn it, take care of them," Norton said and ends the call. All he needs right now is Customs running all over his ship. "Get McGarrett into the container, and make sure he doesn't make any noise," he tells his last man still remaining in the cabin.

This is not going according to plan. He had planned to let the commander rot in the shipping container he had prepared for him. No one would have found him for days while McGarrett was locked into a container standing among hundreds waiting to be handled. Norton has to grin at his devious plan. He is not sure of what McGarrett would have died from first. Dehydration? Inside those containers temperatures could easily be 150° F on a cloudy day. Norton had heard that death by asphyxiation was not very pleasant. He is sure that McGarrett wouldn't last long in one of those poorly ventilated boxes. Or he would simply succumb to his injuries. Whatever would have been the cause, Norton is sure it would not be a pleasant experience.

Assante goes to his desk and takes out his Smith&Wesson M&P. He loads it with the .357 magazine and shoves it into the back of his pants. He will make sure that McGarrett suffers before he dies. And if Norton can't slowly kill McGarrett as he had planned, he will make sure the man will never walk again, and will remember him until his last day. Norton has seen the damage a bullet through the knee causes, and in what kind of pain his brother has to live every day of his life. That was worse than a quick death.

With his mind made up, he leaves the cabin to meet McGarrett in the cargo bay where his men should have brought him by now. Norton doesn't get far until he learns that his prisoner was not in the cabin where Raoul should have taken him.

It slowly dawns on Norton that he had been betrayed by his own wife. He is positive she had to have helped McGarrett escape. This time the bulkhead has to take the brunt of his anger. The sound from hitting the steel wall with the butt of his gun resonates through the passageway as he storms down the ladder to where he holds his children.

H50 – H50 – H50

Danny Williams wishes his friend was right next to him during this particular raid. Not that he doesn't trust Chin to have his back, he does. That is not it. But in this maze of a ship, he could use Steve's expertise about the general layout of a ship.

Danny remembers that he once got lost on a Navy vessel back when he went on a tour with his school class. When he had told that story to Steve, he had been sure that Steve would laugh at him, but he had only smiled and told him that even sailors get lost on their first days on a ship. It happens because of the lack of a view to the outside. That makes it hard in the beginning to know where one really is on a ship; at least until one figured out how to pinpoint one's own location. Danny took his word for it and wondered if Steve had ever been one of those lost sailors. Somehow he can't really picture him getting lost anywhere.

Chin and Danny carefully make their way along another corridor inside the ship. Steve would tell him that they were moving athwart ship; meaning at a right angle to the centerline, in a passageway which runs from port to starboard contrary to fore and aft. Danny just calls it going left or right.

"Chin, where the hell are the stairs on this damn boat?" Danny is getting frustrated. They need to get down below, to get closer to Steve. But instead they are still on the main deck they entered a few minutes ago.

"They are called ladders," Chin mumbles as an answer. He wonders if they are in a part of the ship that has no access to the lower decks.

"I don't care what they are called, ladders, stairs, all the same as long as they lead downstairs."

So far, they had not encountered anyone. No crew members, no 'gang-members' or anyone at all.

"Danny!" Chin calls out and points to a hatch with the markings 'Decks 1 – 6' on it.

"Finally," Danny exclaims and slowly opens the hatch and peers inside. "All clear," he tells Chin and motions to follow him.

H50 – H50 – H50

Steve stumbles for what feels like the tenth time since they entered the cargo bay. The hatch to deck four had been blocked, so they had to move one deck further below and are now looking for another way to get to their exit point. So far, the kids are doing great; they are holding on to their mother and haven't said a peep.

The little troop pauses in front of yet another hatch pressed against the bulkhead. Making themselves as inconspicuous as possible. The passageway is only very dimly lit and if one would only take a cursory look their way, they wouldn't be seen.

Steve leans his head against the cool metal of the bulkhead and fights against another dizzy spell that slams into him. He can handle the pain, but his body is slowly shutting down. He knows he has a pretty high fever from the raging infection. His vision is wavering in and out of focus. The shoulder wound had started bleeding again a few minutes ago when he stumbled against the last hatch they came through.

The pain his misstep caused had almost brought him to his knees; only hanging on to the hatch prevented him from crumpling to the deck. It had taken him a moment to realize that they had stumbled into a small passageway that led to the cargo bay they were now crossing. Hopefully to find a ladder that will lead them a deck above, so they can finally get to the hatch where the Coast Guard is waiting.

"Steve, can you go on?" His mother is suddenly next to him and asks him very quietly.

"I'm fine."

Steve hears two snorts as an answer. Even Gloria couldn't keep quiet.

"I'm fine," Steve tells them with conviction in his voice. He stands up a little straighter and pushes away from the bulkhead. "Let's move on."

He leads his little group through another small cargo room, and suddenly they are in front of a ladder that leads upwards. If he is right, they are directly under the bay with the outboard hatch. There is only one ladder and one last hatch between them and safety.

Or so Steve thinks.

H50 – H50 – H50

The customs officers entering the bridge had been very surprised. They didn't encounter any resistance. The captain of the Brazilian vessel answered all their questions and granted them access to all decks. He even told them that the ship's owner was on board, and the captain was not sure of his intentions.

Officer Myers relays the information to Danny, who tells him to fan out and be careful of any men they might encounter.

"Myers, remember Assante has nothing to lose at this time. I'm sure he knows that he is trapped," Danny tells the customs officer.

"We need to isolate him. We can't allow him to get hold of any hostages again. Have you made contact with McGarrett yet?"

"No. But I think we are close. We'll inform you as soon as we have him and the hostages," Danny taps his ear-piece and ends the conversation. He then turns to Chin, "Assante is somewhere down here. Myers received information from the captain that Norton has at least ten men with him."

"I assume heavily armed?" Chin doesn't like the development. So far, they haven't encountered anyone, but that alone is suspicious in his eyes. He feels like something is not right. "Danny, are you sure we are in the right part of the ship?"

"What do you mean? According to Myers this is the way to the accessible cargo bay. The rest of the ship is just full of containers." Danny looks at Chin and waits for his explanation.

"I don't know; something doesn't seem right."

Danny can completely understand what Chin means; he has had a very bad feeling ever since they entered the passageway with small cargo rooms left and right. None of them was in use, but when they opened the one at the end of the way, they knew this was where someone had been held. They looked at the water and blood on the deck, the bolted chair and the cut ropes. The smell of old vomit was still hanging heavily in the room. The whole room smelled of blood and pain. It was clear that someone had been tortured in that chair. And they had a pretty good idea who that someone was.

They complete their sweep of the deck they were on and head to the one above. "I think we are too far down, Chin."

"No, we are on deck four. It's the right deck, but I think we are on the wrong site of the center passageway. That is why no one is here."

"We took a wrong turn?" Danny hopes that is not the case. It simply can't be that they are not aiding their friend because they went the wrong way.

"I think we're on the starboard site, but the hatch we're looking for is on the port side." Seeing Danny's look he elaborates, "on the left side of the ship."

"I know what port side means. I was just wondering… did you hear that?"

"That was a gun shot," Chin is already on the run towards where the noise came from.

H50 – H50 – H50

Steve helps Nino on to the ladder that leads to the upper deck at a 90° angle. Gloria and her daughter are already above.

"Steve, you go up first."

"No, mom. You go. You have to get them to safety, get them to the hatch and off the ship." Steve motions for his mother to climb the ladder.

"What are you talking about? Where are you going?"

Steve smiles at his mother, "I'm staying right here. I can't climb up there. Mom, you have to go."

"No. I'm not leaving you. You can make it. Come on, Steve. We're almost there," Doris looks at her son, and sees for the first time that he is barely managing to stay on his feet. "Steve?"

"You have to take care of the kids, mom. I'll be alright. Danny will find me soon. Don't worry, okay?" Steve tells her and hangs on to the ladder. There is no way that he will be able to climb the ladder, not with his useless shoulder and leg. "I'll take cover behind the crates and wait for the cavalry. Now, go." Steve lets go of the ladder and limps over to the crates standing against one corner of the small cargo room. "Go, mom!"

Steve watches his mother reluctantly climbing the ladder, and as soon as she is out of sight he slides down to the floor. He leans against the bulkhead and tries to keep his eyes open, but it's a losing battle. He lists to the right and is unconscious before his head hits the deck.

H50 – H50 – H50

Steve feels himself being hauled to his feet and slammed into the bulkhead behind him. Someone is yelling at him, but he can't understand a word. His head was just smashed into the steel, and he feels blood running down the side of it.

He can't keep himself from groaning when he is again slammed into the unforgiving wall. Suddenly there are people left and right of him who grab his arms and jerk them around their shoulders. The movement causes Steve to gasp in pain when his shoulder is almost ripped out of its socket. At least it feels like that, but it is just the pain from the bullet that tore through his muscles and tendons. Moving the shoulder is excruciating and Steve groans in pain when his legs give out and his whole weight pulls on his shoulder.

Steve can't really see what is going on, his vision is blurry and everything is spinning around him. He tries to get his feet back under him, but his captors simply drag him along. Their journey is not far though. They enter an empty room and when the two goons let go of Steve, he falls to the floor, hitting his knee on a sharp edge on the uneven floor. Pain shoots into his knee and leg, and he can feel blood flowing from the cut just below his left knee.

He hits the deck with a thud and tries to catch his breath. He is trying to get the incredible pain raging in his left shoulder under control. He can hear voices to his right and a moment later the hatch they just came through is closed.

Steve turns onto his back and tries to figure out what had just happened. It looks like he is in a shipping container. He looks around for any kind of weapon, but there is nothing he can use. Steve lies close to the wall and pushes himself up into a sitting position, using the wall for support. His left arm is completely numb; he can't even move his fingers. And the pain that is still radiating to his chest, back and arm reminds him of pain from damaged nerves, something he has experienced before. The latest brutal movements of his shoulder must have caused some serious damage.

He looks down at his knee that is still slightly bleeding. He can see a deep cut that went right though his jeans under the kneecap. Adding this to the already badly bruised leg, it's clear that he will not walk out of here.

Steve uses his right hand to fumble at his left ankle and takes the hidden knife out of its sheath. He wonders why they didn't detect the small knife strapped under his socks when they first took his boots. A neglect that might save his life now. He can easily hide the short flat knife in the palm of his hand.

He can hear shouting and gun fire from outside the container. But it's far away, maybe not even on the same deck. Steve pushes himself into a standing position and using the wall for support, makes his way over to stand next to the door.

Steve knows he won't be able to stay on his feet for long, but he will certainly not go down without a fight. He knows that rescue is already on its way, he only has to stay alive long enough for them to find him.

H50 – H50 – H50

Danny and Chin run towards the shooting and encounter only one hostile on their way. He is disarmed quickly, and they cuff him to the railing that goes along the passageway.

When they enter one of the big cargo bays, they can see that the two customs officers are outnumbered by Norton's men, who had taken cover behind crates and heavy machinery. But with Danny and Chin adding to the firepower it is a rather short firefight, and Norton's men surrender.

With the one cuffed in the passageway, they have now six men in custody. That still leaves a few unaccounted for. And of course they still need to find Steve and Assante. Before they can continue their search they are called by a lieutenant from the waiting Coast Guard vessel.

"Detective, we took two woman and two children on board. We are now boarding the 'Fortuna' on deck four."

"What about Commander McGarrett?" Danny is glad that the children are safe, but he needs to know where his friend is.

"He stayed behind. We are going to look for him now."

"Keep me posted."

"Of course."

Danny looks at Chin to see if he heard the information. "Why the hell did he stay back? He'd better have a good reason…" Danny grumbles as they go to meet with the guys from the Coast Guard who hopefully will have found Steve by then.

H50 – H50 – H50

Norton Assante knows that his time has come. He knows there is no way to escape; he will not leave this ship alive. He should have left with Rashid, as Rashid had told him. But Norton had been positive he still had been in control of the situation, and that he would still get the data from McGarrett.

Not only had he underestimated McGarrett, but he had been fooled by his own wife. There was only one thing left for him to do. Get to McGarrett and make him pay. He realized way too late that McGarrett had been playing a game with him the whole time. That he had never worked for him. He should have trusted his instincts, but what McGarrett had given him in the last seven months had been useful information. And the man had been shot by his own people. That was when Norton's last doubts had been erased.

But no more games. McGarrett would pay. He decided that he would not be killed, no, that would be too easy. He will cripple him for life, taking his purpose away from him. He just wished he would be alive to see McGarrett struggle with his life when he wouldn't be able to keep his job, or his career with the Navy. He also wished he could see him live in pain for the rest of his life.

Norton opens the door to the container with his gun ready. He wouldn't take a chance, even though his men assured him that McGarrett was totally out of it; weakened by a high fever, injured and barely conscious.

Norton knows the damage the torture must have caused, that he must still be in pain from the shocks and the abuse. Not even to mention the bullet that has been in his shoulder for almost twelve hours now. Assante would be very surprised if he was standing or even be conscious.

He steps into the container and loses his balance when something slams into him. Norton falls to the floor, and his gun slithers away.

H50 – H50 – H50

Steve leans heavily against the wall when he hears someone approaching. The door is slowly opened, and he presses himself even further into the wall. For a minute, nothing happens, but then a person appears.

Steve can't make out who it is; his vision is shot to hell, and everything is just a blurry whirlwind of colors. That is the reason he doesn't use the knife right away; he doesn't want to kill one of 'his' men. So he does the only thing he can to identify the 'intruder', he slams into him.

It takes him only a very short second to realize that Norton came to finish him off. Steve hears the gun slither over the metal floor, completely out of reach for both of them. Before Steve has the chance to intensify his attack, Norton hits him in the shoulder and almost simultaneously kicks out with his knee, catching Steve in the upper left leg.

Pain explodes in his shoulder, causing the pain in his leg to pale in comparison. Steve knows he will be dead if he gives in. He fights to stay conscious and throws a wild punch at Norton. This time with the knife's blade toward his target. He slashes Norton across the chest, but it's nothing more than a light scratch. But it causes Norton to shriek in surprise.

Steve tries to follow his attack with another stab, but Norton blocks the hit and counters with a punch to the side of Steve's head. They are still both on the floor, with Norton getting back to his knees. Steve tries to roll away from Norton to get into a better position to fight him, but he gets tackled and they both fall back onto the hard metal floor.

Norton is on top of Steve and holds his right hand down, making it impossible for Steve to use the knife. Steve is struggling to get Norton off him, but his opponent is not letting go. Steve's left arm is useless; he can't even raise it to protect himself from the punches Norton is throwing his way.

It's clear that Steve only has very little time to do something about the situation. Somehow he manages to bring his knee up and catches Norton in the back. Not a very effective kick, but enough for Steve to gain a little more room to move.

Steve can feel his left eye swelling shut, and knows he won't be able to see out of it for much longer. Not that it would make much of a difference, he has hit his head so often on the hard metal floor that he can't see straight anyway. Even this close, Norton is nothing but a blurry blob.

Suddenly, his right arm is free and without even thinking about it, he throws his arm in a wide sweep in the hope of catching Norton somehow. A lucky hit is all he needs.

And lucky he is. Steve hears a gurgling noise and suddenly the weight on his chest is gone. He is totally spent and can't even lift his head to see what happened. He can only listen to coughing and more gurgling, and then there is nothing.

Steve had managed to catch Norton in the throat, severing his carotid artery and causing him to suffocate on his own blood.

Steve tries to move, but his head feels like it is being crushed from an immense pain at his right temple. It feels just like this morning when Denver gave him the drug to fake an intra-cranial bleed. His vision is getting gray, and he is unable to move. Breathing gets incredible hard, and he wonders for a moment why he has such trouble drawing a deep breath.

He can hear voices and he thinks it might be Danny and Chin, but they are far away. He feels hands on him, touching his face, and people talking to him. But it's all getting farther away and then there are no voices anymore, only the touching remains for a moment longer. But after a moment, he doesn't feel anything anymore. No pain, no cold from the hard floor, or the gentle touch of hands on his head and chest.

That is the moment Steve lets go and gives in to the darkness that has been calling him since Norton fell off his chest.

H50 – H50 – H50

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_**Oh boy. Now they have found him. Everything is good, right? ;-)**_

_**Thank you all for reading. Tune in next week.**_


	13. Chapter 13 Confusion

**_Thanks to everyone who reviewed or alerted this story. I hope this time I got everyone and responded to. If I have missed you, I apologize._**

**_If you have tried to reach my blog in the last few days and got an error, that issue is resolved and the new address is online. If you like you can find me on WordPress under MostlyFive0. Right now there is a poll going you might like to check out. With lots of pictures and video. Shameless self-promotion again. ;-)_**

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**Treason – Chapter 13 - Confusion**

_**Tripler Army Medical Center**_

"Can we see him?" Danny asks the doctor.

"He'll most likely sleep all night. He is on heavy painkillers; you won't be able to talk to him," Major Hardy tells them.

"Please, we just need to see him." Danny can't leave without at least seeing his partner.

"Alright, give us a few minutes. He's just being settled in ICU."

The small group thanks the doctor and waits patiently to see their friend. Just five minutes later a nurse comes to get Doris and Danny. Chin and Kono stay back after the promise to get an update on Steve's condition as soon as possible. Danny walks behind Doris as they are led into a cubicle and can see that Steve is hooked up to various monitors. But all in all, he just looks like he's sleeping.

"How bad is it?" Doris McGarrett asks as she tentatively steps closer to the bed. She looks down at her son, taking in the IV; the sensors leading to a heart monitor; the bag hanging next to the bed, filled with a slightly pinkish liquid; and the nasal cannula providing him with oxygen.

"Well, he has bruised kidneys, which means that he must have received very hard hits to the back. Normally, the kidneys are well protected since they are not close to the surface. To get bruised like his, he must have been beaten severely." Major Hardy looks at Doris for any hints of what happened to his patient.

"They used electro shocks on the kidney area. They hit him many times," Doris whispers, clearly still shocked to remember what her son had to endure.

"Well, that is most likely the cause then. He also has many bruises all over his body; our guess is he was hit with a baseball bat or something like that." Doctor Hardy exposes Steve's elevated left leg up to his groin, and they can see that his knee and thigh are swollen, with a neat row of stitches right below his kneecap. "There is a partial hairline fracture in his femur, and a lot of muscle and nerve damage; it will be a while before he is able to walk again," Hardy says as he covers Steve back up. "We will put a brace on his leg before he is released and the swelling is down. A cast will not be necessary though."

"Will he be left with a limp?" Danny wants to know.

"It's a possibility, but I don't think so. We have to wait and see how it goes," Steve's doctor answers the question to the best of his ability. He looks at Steve's chart before he continues. "The gunshot wound to the shoulder in itself isn't too bad; there was no initial nerve damage."

Danny breathes a sigh of relief after hearing that. He knows how delicate the shoulder joint is and how much damage a bullet can cause. Thinking that he could have crippled his friend still makes him feel sick.

"But," the doctor continues, "the bullet was in there for a long time, and caused a serious infection. Cleaning the wound took some time in the OR; and they found torn muscles, tendons and damage to the shoulder joint. That was probably caused when his shoulder was violently moved with the bullet in there. The movement caused the bullet to travel and wedge itself into the joint, to say it in lay terms. He will need physical therapy, but we are positive that he will fully recover and gain full range of motion back." Dr. Hardy tells them with a smile. It is at least one diagnosis they are pretty sure of.

"So it doesn't look too bad all in all?" Danny wonders if those injuries were all Steve was facing.

"Well," Major Hardy pauses and looks at McGarrett's friends to make sure they will understand what he's explaining. "We are most concerned about his head. He suffered two separate concussions. The first one was rather mild, caused by a hit to the left side of his head. The second one, from a day later, was severe and caused by multiple hits to the right side of his head. Two concussions on top of each other are very dangerous. There is a bit of swelling on the right side of his brain, but we hope that it will go down on its own in a couple of days."

"What if it doesn't?" Danny asks.

"We will monitor him very closely, Detective. We need to give his body some time to heal; I'm sure it won't come to surgery. If the pressure rises, we will need to do something about it, but not right now. He will have a hell of a headache due to the increased pressure though. But we will keep him as comfortable as possible."

"When will he wake up?" Doris asks, not taking her eyes off her injured son.

"We don't know. As I said he is on pain medication and heavy antibiotics at the moment; that alone would keep him under. He might come around in the morning, but at the moment sleep is the best thing for him."

"So, he is not in a coma?" Doris is worried about that since she heard about pressure on the brain.

"No. He reacts to pain stimuli, and we managed to rouse him for a short while in recovery. He didn't know what had happened, but that is perfectly normal. As I said, we will monitor him very closely and will wake him every few hours."

"I'd like to stay with him," Doris voices and looks at the doctor.

"I'm sorry, but this is the ICU, and we have…"

"Please, I won't be in the way. I haven't been there for my son in the last twenty years… I had to abandon him today, while he was injured and hurting. Please, allow me to stay," she pleads with the doctor.

Major Hardy contemplates her request for a moment before he agrees, "Fine, but if my nurses tell you to leave, then you will need to do so."

"Yes, of course. I promise I won't be in the way. Thank you."

"Alright then. Detective, you have five minutes." Doctor Hardy leaves them after his announcement.

Danny looks around the small cubicle and sees that Doris is still staring down at Steve. "I'm sure they don't mind if you touch him," he tells her softly. He can imagine that she is a bit unsure of her role with Steve. But Danny knows that even though Steve doesn't trust his mother, he still loves her.

Doris looks at Danny and smiles at him; she sits down in the chair next to Steve's bed and gently grabs his slack right hand. "This is Catherine's or even your place, Danny. I don't really have a right to take this place next to him."

"Yeah well, Steve and I don't usually hold hands, you know. And Cath is not here, so I guess that leaves you. Besides, no matter what has happened in the last twenty years, you _**are**_ his mom."

"Thank you, Danny." Doris says before she focuses back on Steve.

Danny watches them for a moment longer and then says his good-byes, "I'll be back in the morning. Please call me if anything changes."

"Of course, Danny. I will. Are you going back to the office?"

"Yeah, there is a lot to wrap up, and an arrest to make. I'll see you in the morning?"

"Yes, I'll be here. Thank you, Danny. For everything."

"Alright then." He nods at her and leaves mother and son alone.

H50 – H50 – H50

The first thing coming back to Steve is his sense of smell. It's the smell that almost made him break down when he smelled it for the first time after twenty years. He would recognize it anywhere. Even after all those years, she still smells just like he remembered.

_Mom?_ Steve is aware that he's not talking out loud; doing so would require strength he doesn't have at the moment.

Steve just lies still for a little while longer and enjoys the feeling of… actually feeling nothing much of anything. Realizing that he is in no pain whatsoever makes him suddenly worry. He knows that his head should hurt quite a lot. And his leg... his leg must be bad. Steve remembers his doctor telling him of the injury to his leg and head at some point. He isn't sure when that was, but vaguely remembers a doctor leaning over him and asking questions.

Low noises are reaching his ears; and he can make out the low beeping of a heart monitor. Also very low talking, but that seems to be farther away. Steve hears and feels the blood pressure cuff inflating to measure his blood pressure.

Steve tries to open his eyes to see where he is, but it's an endeavor he isn't mastering at the moment. His eyelids are very stubborn and refuse to even flutter. He gives up after a moment and instead concentrates on remembering why he is here. Wherever 'here' is.

But nothing comes to mind; it is just blank. He remembers seeing Brandon this morning and coming to the office late, and being grilled by Danny about his weekend. He hates that he had to lie to his friends again about his whereabouts. It is so hard to keep lying to Danny and his friends, but especially Danny. It is eating him up, and making him sick. But most of all it makes him incredibly sad, because he is sure when all this is over, he will have lost a friend. Not just any friend, but his close friend, his best friend.

Steve again tries to open his eyes, but they are still stubborn and are not impressed by his struggle to come awake. After a moment he gives up. Instead he tries to listen to the voices filtering to his ears.

_"I can't do that." That was clearly Danny's voice. He sounded agitated and angry._

_"What do you mean, you can't?" Chin was a lot calmer and he spoke in a low voice. Steve could barely make out what he said._

_"He lied to us…"_

_"Danny, we've been over this. He had no choice…"_

_"Don't give me that again. He could have found a way if he had wanted to."_

_"Danny."_

_"Don't Danny me. He lied to us without even breaking a sweat, Chin. We can't believe what he's saying. I thought I knew him. But… I don't trust him… not anymore… not after this…I'm not going to stick around for him to wake up and tell more lies…" _

The voices fade out as the two are obviously leaving, and Steve can't hear what else is said.

Steve had hoped that Danny would at least listen to him explain himself, but it is pretty clear that his friend is no longer his friend. The realization that he had lost his friend for good slams into Steve and makes him gasp as if he's in pain.

"Commander? Commander McGarrett, can you hear me?" Nurse Banks takes a close look at Steve whose vital signs are suddenly all over the place. Until a minute ago he was resting peacefully, but then he became animated, and it was obvious that he was dreaming.

According to his vitals it must have been one hell of a bad dream. Banks wonders for a moment if she should call his doctor, but as she watches, Steve settles back down and his BP and heart rate go back to a more normal parameter.

His friends had left a few hours ago, and she had sent his mother out when she had to check on her patient just a few minutes ago. Even though his mother was reluctant to leave, Banks insisted on some privacy for her patient. No need to expose him for everyone to see, even if only his mother was in the room.

Banks makes sure that Steve is again resting comfortably, and rearranges the covers over his elevated leg and makes sure that no line or tube is tangled and hurting him in any way. Satisfied with her work and the way Commander McGarrett is back to a deep sleep she makes a note in his chart of his dreaming before she leaves him to allow his mother back by his bedside.

H50 – H50 – H50

Doris McGarrett watches Major Hardy who is trying to rouse Steve from his sleep. He had told her they did that once before, and that time it had been a lot easier.

_**Surgical recovery ward, two hours ago**_

_There it is again, that annoying voice that just won't stop. _

_"Shu' up," Steve manages to get out. His mouth feels like the desert and his throat hurts. He knows that feeling; he had been intubated. But he simply can't imagine why that would have been necessary. The last thing he remembers is being in the office with his team, joking about camping in the jungle._

_Arg, shit… don't move. Steve can't keep in the groan when he moves. Pain radiates all the way from his shoulder over his chest and upwards to explode in his head. He hasn't opened his eyes yet, but he still sees fireworks of stars and white dots._

_"Commander, don't try to move. You are just out of surgery; we will make you more comfortable in a minute. Commander, can you open your eyes?"_

_Steve struggles to do what the voice asks him, but as soon as the light hits his eyes he squeezes them shut again. He lets out another pitiful groan, and starts gagging, suddenly overcome with nausea. _

_He feels how he is rolled onto his side, just in time as the bile comes up. There is nothing in his stomach, so after a little gagging he settles down and is gently rolled onto his back again. He feels his face being cleaned of all traces of his sickness, and the wildly beeping heart monitor is slowing down after a minute of just lying still._

_"Commander, let's try to open your eyes again." The voice is still relentlessly coaxing him._

_"Hurts," is Steve's answer and his eyes are staying closed. _

_"We have dimmed the lights, give it another try."_

_"Urg," Steve's comment is not very friendly, but he obediently opens his eyes._

_Steve blinks up at a guy in green scrubs who is smiling down at him._

_"Commander, can you tell me your name?"_

_"McGarrett, Sir," Steve answers the doctor who is leaning over him. He can make out another doctor right behind him. _

_"Do you know where you are?" The other one in the back is now asking._

_Steve looks around for a moment and decides that this must be Tripler Army Medical Center, but he still has no idea why he would be here. _

_"Tripler?"_

_"Do you remember what happened? How you were injured?" It's the turn of the first one again. They are obviously a tag-team._

_"No, Sir. Where's my team? They okay?" Steve closes his eyes again, all this talking makes his head hurt badly. His head feels like it in a vise and someone is screwing it tighter together. _

_"They are fine. You were shot and hurt your head. What is the last you remember?"_

_"Who shot m'?" It gets harder to get any words out, and he feels so incredibly tired. If his team is okay, he can figure out the rest later. He just wants to go back to sleep._

_"Commander, stay awake for a moment longer. Do you know what day it is?"_

_"Mond'…" The rest of the word is lost as Steve goes back to sleep._

This time though Steve is extremely stubborn and just refuses to come awake.

"Commander, open your eyes. Come on," Hardy calls to his patient, but gets only a minimal reaction out of him. "McGarrett!" No calling or gentle touching can bring Steve to acknowledge his doctor. Giving up on this course of action the major presses his knuckles deep into his patient's breastbone, which causes an immediate reaction.

They can all hear the pain filled groan, as Steve tries to get away from the abuse by his doctor.

"Commander, open your eyes," Major Hardy tries a different approach and uses his command voice. With a slightly better result; two glazed over eyes are blinking at him.

"Commander, can you tell me your name?"

"Wha…?"

"Your name, can you tell me your name?" Hardy repeats the question and is worried about his patient's slow reaction.

"McGarrett," Steve's answer is a bit slurred, and his eyes are unfocused, but at least he obviously understood the question.

"Good. Do you know where you are?"

"Tripler?" That was more a question than an answer, but he seems to know that he is in a hospital.

"Do you know what day is today?"

"Monday."

"What is the last you remember?" Hardy makes another note in his chart. Two hours ago, McGarrett also insisted that it was Monday.

"Coming to… the office," Steve's answer again is the same as two hours ago. "Wha' happen'?"

"You got shot, and hit your head really hard. Do you remember any of that?"

"No. Who sho' m'? Head'urts."

Steve's speech deteriorates in an alarming rate; his slurred words are hard to understand. They can only watch as his eyes close again and he goes back to sleep.

"Sergeant Banks, get him downstairs for an MRI. I don't like this. Please get him scheduled as soon as possible," Major Hardy makes another note in his chart and turns to Doris. "No need to be alarmed. There might be nothing wrong, but I like to play it safe. He was very alert last time we woke him up, and what we just witnessed doesn't fit. I just want to make sure that we're not missing anything."

"Do you think the swelling got worse?"

"No. But something is not right. And we need to figure out what that is. Don't worry, if there is a problem we will find it and do something about it. He is in good hands here. He will be fine," Hardy assures Doris.

Doris can only watch as her son is wheeled out of the ICU to get another test.

It doesn't matter that his doctor assured her that Steve will be fine; she knows something must have happened in the two hours between the tests. She had left him for about twenty minutes when Sgt. Banks had sent her out of the ICU to attend to Steve. Doris wondered if anything had happened then. Something they were not aware of.

H50 – H50 – H50

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**Thank you for reading. Next chapter next week...**


	14. Chapter 14 Orientation

**Thanks again to everyone who took the time to post a review. You guys really make my day. Thank you!**

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**Treason – Chapter 14 – Orientation**

**_Tripler Army Medical Center, 0500 hours_**

"You've got to be kidding me," Major Hardy calls out.

"No, Sir we're not. Our orders are very clear, Sir. We have to take the prisoner back into custody." The Lieutenant hands over his orders and motions for his four men to enter the hospital room.

"Stop!" The major moves to stand in the open doorway. "You will not enter the ICU. Sergeant, call security," Hardy tells the nurse behind the counter.

"Sir, you will not stop us from taking McGarrett back into custody. He is under arrest for espionage and treason. He is considered a high flight risk, and therefore, is to be taken to a secure location."

Major Hardy almost snorts at the mention of his patient being a flight risk. "Lieutenant, I have no idea how someone came to the conclusion that Commander McGarrett poses a flight risk, but I can assure you he is not going anywhere for a while. He is in the ICU for a reason. He cannot be taken out of this hospital or even out of that room."

"Is there a medical reason why he can't be transported? And, if so, would you sign for those reasons?"

"Is there a medical reason? NO, he is in the ICU just for fun," Hardy says and hopes his sarcastic tone will be understood. But he has his doubts about that. "Where do I have to sign?"

Five minutes later all the papers are in order and Major Hardy turns to go back to his patient when he is again stopped by the MA. "One more thing, Major." The Lieutenant holds handcuffs in his hands.

"What do you want with them?"

"I'm sorry, but if McGarrett remains here, I have to cuff him to the bed."

"No, you won't," Major Hardy has now enough with this, and makes it very clear. "You need to leave the hospital now, before you are escorted out of here."

"I'm sorry, Sir, but this is **_not_** negotiable. It's either the cuffs, or he comes with us. If you like, you can look it up, Sir, but those are the rules. And even you can't overrule them."

"Fine, but I get the keys."

"No, Sir. One of my men will stay here."

H50 – H50 – H50

Steve tries to move his right leg to get a bit more comfortable, but his movement is stopped by something around his ankle.

Steve hears a clanking sound and groans, "What the…," as he tries to look down at his feet. But even lifting his head is an impossible task at the moment. Pain pulses through his skull, seemingly originating at his right temple, but it's looping all the way through his head and back. With a monumental effort, he manages to raise his head enough to see that he is lying in a small room with lots of equipment all around his bed. It's clearly some kind of ICU he's lying in.

He finds the button for the control on the bed and raises the headrest, so it is easier for him to take a look around. His left leg is elevated and rests in some contraption that gives a great deal of support without putting any pressure on his leg. Steve again moves his right leg, but can now see that his ankle is cuffed to the bed railing.

With his left leg in the elevated sling and his right one cuffed to the railing, he is effectively bound to the bed, unable to get out of it, or even to move much. He now becomes aware that his left shoulder is heavily bandaged, and his arm is immobilized across his chest. A clear tube, sticking out of the bandage, disappears down the side of the bed. He obviously had surgery on his shoulder, and the drainage is still in there. He remembers vaguely that a doctor had told him he had been shot. But he has no recollection of a shooting.

And for sure, he has no idea what has happened to his leg, or his head. Which just started to hurt in a spectacular way. Steve is sure that he has never had a headache like this before. He closes his eyes and tries to breathe through the nauseating pain that is pounding inside his skull.

Lying still and concentrating on willing the pain away makes him think about what he does remember. Danny comes to mind first. He clearly remembers Danny telling Chin that he would not hang around to wait for Steve to wake up and… That thought really hurts, that his friend doesn't even want to talk to him. He had wondered for a moment why he was alone when he woke up, but now it is clear. His friends don't want anything to do with him anymore.

"Commander McGarrett."

Steve almost jumps out of his skin when he is suddenly addressed. He must have dozed off again. "Argh…" Steve realizes that sudden movements are to be avoided for the time being.

When he jerked awake pain exploded not only in his head, but also in his shoulder and leg. He can't even decide which is worst, but he will most likely settle on the head. White dots are dancing in front of his eyes, and his vision is blurry; his eyes are watering, which is not helping his vision.

"I'm sorry, Commander, I didn't mean to startle you. Try to take a few slow breaths," Major Hardy talks to his patient who had just gone as white as a sheet. "That's it… you're doing good. Can you open your eyes again?"

Steve listens to the doctor and tries to figure out where he had heard his voice before. He slowly opens his eyes, and after blinking a few times he can focus on the major in front of him.

"It's good to see you awake. You had us worried last night."

"What happened?" Steve asks with a low voice.

"Do you remember anything?"

"No," Steve shakes his head, but stops when again pain shoots into his head triggered by the small movement.

"What is the last you remember?" Hardy asks as he checks Steve left leg, by feeling the pulse in his foot and taking a look at the stitches under the knee and the bruising on his upper leg.

"I came into the office. I was late," Steve hesitantly says. He can't reveal where he had been over the weekend as long as he doesn't know why he is here, and why the heck he is cuffed to the bed. "Why is there a handcuff on my ankle?"

"Because some idiot thinks you're a flight risk," Hardy tells Steve, still with disgust in his voice.

"I'm under arrest?"

"Espionage and treason."

"Oh."

"It's okay, Commander. We know you were working under cover. This must be a glitch in the system. As far as I know the guilty parties are either arrested or dead. Don't worry, I'm sure this," he motions at the ankle with the cuff around it, "will be resolved soon."

That explains the fall out with Danny. He must know by now that Steve has been lying to him for over half a year. Steve can only imagine how angry Danny is. "Was anyone else hurt beside me?"

"No, not as far as I know. You, on the other hand, were seriously injured. The shoulder wound is infected, and your leg is badly bruised with a hairline fracture. And you suffered two separate concussions. I'm actually amazed at how awake you are."

"How did I get injured?" Steve wants to know, but can feel how his strength is leaving him and how heavy his eyelids are.

"You should go back to sleep, Commander. We will talk when you wake up again…"

"No, please, I need to know. When was I arrested?" Steve looks pleadingly at his doctor.

"Okay, fine, I'll give you the short version, as far as I know what happened," Major Hardy concedes and tells Steve what he had learned from Danny. How Steve had been arrested, fled and was shot. Leaving out who shot him, in fact, leaving out Danny's involvement in the incident completely.

"Assante is dead?"

"Yes, he died during the fight. Does any of this sound familiar?" Major Hardy had watched his patient very closely when he had told his story. He could see some recognition, but it was clear to him that most of it was completely new to Steve.

"Some of it makes sense. I remember being on a ship, and bits and pieces of a fight. And I remember Danny walking out on me, but I'm not sure where that was," Steve tells his doctor. He has settled back in bed and has closed his eyes. His head is not taking kindly to him being awake. But Steve fights to stay awake a little longer, even though sleep has a strong pull on him.

"You are clearly in pain, Commander. I'll give you something for it. You need to rest," Hardy tells his patient and uncaps the port on one of the IV lines to inject the pain medication into it.

"Please wait. I need to see someone from JAG. And please keep everyone else out," Steve says, barely able to stay awake any longer.

"You don't want to see anyone?" Major Hardy looks down at his patient in astonishment.

"No," Steve whispers. He figures that would make it easier for everyone. At some point, he has to face his team, or his ex-team again, but not now. He doesn't think he could stand their accusing looks at the moment. He was only doing his job and thinks he has nothing to feel guilty about, but he can understand that Danny doesn't see it that way. Steve can understand that Danny doesn't see that not telling him about his work with NI has nothing to do with trust, but simply with being under orders.

"Okay, that is your call. I'll make sure that JAG gets here soon. Get some rest and I will check on you again in a couple of hours."

"Thank you," Steve says without bothering to open his eyes. He is asleep before Major Hardy can say anything in response.

H50 – H50 – H50

Danny Williams is furious. He was just told that he is not allowed to see the prisoner.

**_Prisoner_**. That can only be a joke.

Steve brought down an international weapons dealer who stole highly classified information from the Navy. And by doing so, he uncovered a ring of traitors inside the command level at Pearl-Hickam.

It all fell into place when Chin discovered the files Steve had placed on Chin's computer including all his notes from almost seven months of undercover work. All his suspicions, his gathered evidence, with names and dates. He even placed video and sound bites onto the hard drive.

Chin had received an email from Steve with instructions how to access the files and where to find them. That email had obviously been in Steve's out box and was timed to be sent. Steve obviously had a few back-up plans in place, and they were wondering what else would pop up.

With the help of the files, they were also able to access the flash drive Steve had sent them. And that file led them to the person who sold the classified information. They didn't even need Gloria to ID him.

Now the only problem was that he and Captain Rodgers are on the run, and have not been arrested yet. But the even bigger problem, at least in Danny's eyes, is the fact that Rodgers disposed of any and all paperwork on Steve being undercover. For everyone involved, Steve is a traitor, and therefore still under arrest. An investigation against him is already on the way.

The SECNAV can't be reached at the moment, and if he does not corroborate Steve's story, he will most likely be charged with treason and espionage, no matter that he gathered all the evidence. They will probably say he did that to cover his tracks or save his own six.

The thought that his injured friend is right now being cuffed to his hospital bed like a dog makes him furious. And he is not holding back.

"I want to see Commander McGarrett right now," he says to the guard that is keeping him from entering the ICU.

"The prisoner is not allowed to see anyone. You have to clear that with JAG first, Detective."

"Now, you listen to me…" Danny waves his hands at the MA, but shoves them in his pockets when he remembers what the last time happened he pointed his fingers in a military guy's face.

"Detective Williams! A word please?" Major Hardy interrupts their heated discussion before it can get out of hand. "And please keep your voices down, both of you. This is the ICU with critically injured and ill people." Hardy glares at the MA posted in front of the door to keep anyone from getting access to McGarrett.

"Yes, Sir. I'm sorry, Sir." The petty officer looks at the superior officer and steps back to take his post in front of the door again. He completely ignores Danny as he does so.

"Detective, please follow me to my office," Hardy says and motions for Danny to follow him.

A few minutes later they are sitting in Major Hardy's small office and Danny wonders what he has to say.

"How is Steve?"

"He is doing okay, he slept peacefully through the night after we did an MRI earlier tonight. We were a little concerned about his alertness when we woke him up. But we couldn't find anything wrong. The swelling is not significant, and is not worse than when he arrived." the major assures Danny that Steve has not gotten worse. "He still can't remember what happened; in fact, he has almost no recollection past Monday morning. The antibiotics are working, and his blood work looks good. He is in a great deal of pain though; I had to increase his pain medication."

"I bet he fought that."

"No, actually he didn't. The kind of headache he is having… you wouldn't wish that on your worst enemy, Detective." Hardy looks at the detective sitting in front of his desk and wonders how to bring up the next issue.

"There is something you're not telling me, Major. What is it? And where is his mother, is she with him?"

"No, she sat with him for the last few hours but we asked her to leave while we redressed the wound. She went to see Mrs. Assante and the kids on the fifth floor. Mrs. Assante had asked for her. She should be back soon; and she has no idea yet that she can't go back in." Major Hardy is not looking forward to tell the fierce lady that she can't go back in to her son's room. He is sure that will not go down smoothly.

"Why can't we see him?"

"Well, first there is the issue with him being under arrest. I'm under orders not to let anyone see him besides an officer from JAG," Hardy tells him and hopes that settles it.

"But that is not the only reason, is it?"

"No. Detective… Danny, I can't stress enough that Commander McGarrett has a serious head injury and any decisions he might make at the moment are not done with a clear head. Please keep that in mind. His brain is severely concussed and his thought process… how should I put it… is not working properly right now."

"What are you trying to tell me?" Danny looks curiously at the major. He has no idea where he is going with this.

"He doesn't want to see anyone."

"What?"

"I think the commander is worried about a confrontation with any of you. Did you say anything to him? He seems very sad about something, almost devastated. Like he had received some really bad news."

"No, I haven't had the chance to talk to him. Last I talked to him in person was at the brig, and I…" Danny remembers how he walked out on his friend. How he left him there without even saying another word to him. If he remembered that, Steve must think that he is extremely pissed at him.

"Listen, Commander McGarrett will sleep for a few hours. Why don't you come back later, and I will see what I can do to allow you to see him then?"

"Okay. I have a conference call to Washington at 6; hopefully, I can get the Secretary of the Navy then. We have tried to get anyone in Washington to look into the matter, but we were told to wait. I don't get it, one of their officers was injured in the line of duty and is now chained to a fucking bed, and they don't care."

"Detective, calm down. I'm sure they care, but McGarrett is accused of a very serious crime. They have to get their facts straight before they can do anything."

"Yeah? Well, Steve doesn't deserve this. He almost gave his life to get Assante and to uncover what was really going on. And what does he get for it? Being chained like a wild animal." Danny doesn't want to calm down, and he will tell this to everyone who is willing to listen. His friend should be treated with nothing but respect, and not like a common criminal.

"I assure you I will make sure that no harm will come to him. You have my word that he is doing as well as can be expected."

"Good. If anyone is kicking his ass that will be me." Danny will make sure that Steve knows what he thinks about the stunt he pulled. Lying to them for all those months still doesn't sit well with him. But right now he just wants his friend to get back onto his feet. And then they can work everything out, just like they always do. If his stubborn partner wants that or not.

H50 – H50 – H50

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**_Thank you all for reading. Do you think Danny will be the only one who is going to kick Steve's butt? ;-)_**


	15. Chapter 15

_**First of all I like to apologize for the lack of a chapter last week. I'm truly sorry.**_

_**Since February I'm a student again, and life is a bit hectic right now. My time was very restricted during the last two weeks, but now everything is almost back to normal.**_

_**A few of you have sent a pm to ask if everything was OK, and I like to thank you for caring. Thanks for asking.**_

_**Normally I answer every single reviewer - if he/she allows receiving a pm that is. That was just not possible for the last two chapters due to lack of time. Again I'm really sorry for that. I think everyone who takes the time to write a review deserves at least a personal thank you note. Please know that I appreciate every single one of you. More than you will ever know.**_

_**Again thank you for your patience, and I hope you will enjoy this chapter. Please let me know what you think.**_

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**Treason – Chapter 15**

_**Tripler Army Medical Center, parking lot, a few hours ago**_

_Captain Rodgers sits in his car and watches the main entrance. A few minutes ago four MAs went in, and he knows they are there to take McGarrett back into custody. His only hope is that the commander is too severely injured to be transferred to the base hospital. If he were to be on the base, Rodgers is sure he wouldn't be able to get to him. Here at Tripler his plan should work._

_Rodgers had cleaned out his bank accounts and made arrangements to leave the islands later in the morning. With the IDs for his new identity in his pocket, it should be no problem getting on the flight to the Big Island. He then has a flight booked out of Kona International Airport taking him to London via Phoenix. He figured that would be safer than via LA or San Francisco. He would have preferred to fly via South America but couldn't get a flight for today. _

_Once in Great Britain he will take a ferry to France, and then, thanks to Europe's open borders, he can disappear without a trace. He will take up residence in Barcelona and no one will ever find out. Rodgers is grinning at his ingenious plan. _

_He just has some unfinished business at the hospital first. McGarrett is the only one who knows that he is pretty fluent in Spanish, and could give the hint to watch any Spanish speaking countries. Even though he is not heading directly to Spain, it is still a risk that needs to be eliminated. But even more importantly, McGarrett is the only one who can verify the evidence they have against him. Without him all the files and documents are useless. So it is clear that the commander has to be taken out._

_Rodgers wondered why Williams is not staying with the commander, but won't question his luck. Captain Rodgers gets out of his car and makes his way to the entrance. Dressed in his camo fatigues he blends in perfectly and no one even questions his presence at the hospital. He enters the cafeteria and sits down at a table after getting an early breakfast at the counter. He drinks his coffee and waits for the right time to make his move._

_H50 - H50 - H50_

_**At the same time at Tripler Army Medical Center, ICU**_

_Doris looks down at her son who seems to wake again. In the last three hours she did nothing but watch him sleep. He seemed to rest peacefully but for the last few minutes he seems restless to her. When he came back from the second MRI and his doctor told her that Steve was doing well, and that they couldn't find anything wrong she was relieved. But now the worry is back full force. _

_Steve looks to be in pain and groans with every move he makes. Doris has already pressed the call button and is now waiting for someone to take a look._

_"Mrs. McGarrett, would you leave for a bit please?" Major Hardy asks her as soon as he enters with a nurse in tow. "We need to redress your son's shoulder wound. Mrs. Assante has asked for you to come see her. Maybe you could do that?"_

_"I'd rather stay with him," Doris doesn't want to leave him alone, even if it was only for a short while._

_"I know. When we are done we will transfer him to a more private room. He doesn't need the full ICU anymore; we will put him into intermediate care. There you can sit with him in a semi private room that doesn't have the feel of Grand Central station," Hardy tells her with a smile. He knows that the cubicle McGarrett is occupying right now is not really equipped to handle any kind of visitors. Everyone would be more comfortable in one of the private rooms next to the ICU. The patients there are still closely monitored but they are not lying in a fish bowl. Which is a huge improvement for the patients and for the visiting relatives and friends._

_"Then he is doing better?"_

_"He is stable, his fever is down, he is responding very well to the antibiotics. The quieter environment will be good for him when he wakes up. So, yeah, all in all he is doing better."_

_"He seems to be in pain," Doris looks down at her still very restless son. She watches as Steve obviously is trying to wake up. He is weakly moving his right leg and arm, attempting to explore where he is currently lying. His hand wanders up to his shoulder and she can see him grimacing when his movements jostle his injured shoulder. She reaches for his wrist and gently lays his arm back down by his side, rubbing small circles on it with her thumb. "Can't you give him something? He's hurting."_

_"That can very well be, we have him only on a very low dose of painkillers because we want him to wake up. But don't worry we will make sure that he rests comfortably as soon as we're done with the check-up," Hardy tells her as he starts with a neuro check. "Would you excuse us now please?"_

_Doris nods and takes a final look at Steve and makes her way out of the ICU to go talk to Gloria. She wonders for a moment what she could want from her this early in the morning. _

_When the elevator doors open she needs to step out of the way of four MAs, who are looking rather grim. She asks herself which poor bastard they are going to arrest. _

_H50 – H50 – H50_

_**Intermediate Care Unit waiting room, present time**_

Lieutenant Denver has been listening to Detective Williams' rant about the military in general and the Navy in particular for a few minutes now.

"Are you done?"

"Am I done? No! I'm not done. In fact, I haven't even started yet. Why the heck is the SECNAV not taking my calls? Steve has served with honor for so many years, and now look how he is treated." Danny is still outraged about his friend being treated like a common criminal. They didn't even care that he was seriously injured.

"He is being treated just like anyone who is accused of such a serious crime. They have to figure out first how and if they can drop the charges."

"But he didn't do what he is accused of…"

"We know that, Detective, but it's a different thing to prove it. You of all people should know that." Lt. Denver is sure he knows what is coming next, and he is not disappointed.

"Wait a minute, he is innocent until proven guilty," Danny tells him outraged.

"Yes, but the problem is they have all the proof they need, Danny. Don't forget, Steve _**did**_ betray his country. He did it under orders, but unless we can prove that, he will stay under arrest."

"That just sucks."

"Yes is does, but that's how the system works."

They are interrupted by Major Hardy who approaches them. And it looks like he has bad news.

"Gentlemen, I'm sorry you had to wait. I was on the phone with JAG. They have agreed for you to see McGarrett when one of their lawyers comes by."

"And when will that be?" Danny asks exasperated.

"They said in a couple of hours."

"What! Come on, what harm would there be if we saw him now?" Danny just doesn't understand why he can't see his friend.

"It could be used against him if it would come to a trial. Detective, I assure you this is in Steve's best interest."

"That is just BS," Danny exclaims in anger and turns away. He is frustrated about the whole situation and maybe another run to the cafeteria will help him calm down. "I'm going to get a coffee, can I get you one? And could you stay here and keep an eye on Steve, or at least on the door?" Danny asks as he again glares at the guard in front of Steve's door.

"I'm sorry, I can't. I have a meeting with NI that will hopefully help resolve this mess."

"Okay. Please call me as soon as you know anything," he tells the lieutenant.

Danny doesn't want to leave his friend alone, so instead of making a dash to the cafeteria he settles down in one of the chairs and prepares himself for another period of waiting.

H50 – H50 – H50

Danny smiles as he watches Doris, standing toe-to-toe with the officer stationed in front of Steve's door. She is practically in his face because he is keeping her from seeing her son. Major Hardy was clever enough to tell her over the phone that it was the petty officer keeping her from entering the room.

"You get out of my way right now!"

"I'm sorry, ma'am. I can't let you go in there. I have my orders." The young petty officer doesn't seem to be too impressed with the woman standing in front of him.

Since they are outside the ICU and are attracting a few curious looks, Danny decides it's time to intervene before there will be any bloodshed.

"Doris, would you like to join me for a coffee? You could tell me what Gloria Assante had to say," Danny asks his partner's mother as he steps closer.

"Danny! He won't let me see Steve," Doris says and glares at the petty officer.

"I know. I couldn't see him either. Listen, JAG will be here in about thirty minutes and then we will be allowed to go in. Why don't we go down to the cafeteria and wait there?"

"We should stay here, just in case…"

"I'm sure this young man will make sure that no one enters the room. Right, Petty Officer?"

"Of course, Sir," the relieved MA assures them.

"Come on, there is nothing we can do right now." Danny gently maneuvers Doris away from the door behind which his partner is resting.

Danny is just as angry at the situation as Doris, but he had time to cool down a little. Doris learned about all this just a few minutes ago. And she still doesn't know that Steve is actually cuffed to the bed. And if Danny has anything to say, she won't learn about that little detail anytime soon.

"Why the hell can't we see him, Danny? I don't understand this," Doris is still agitated when they enter the elevator.

"Well, they think it wouldn't look good if Steve talked to anyone without a lawyer present."

"That is just stupid. Besides he is not even fully conscious. They put a guard in front of the door… I mean do they really think he could even get out of bed?" Doris looks at Danny for an answer.

"I'm sure all this will be resolved soon."

"What did the SECNAV say?" Doris just remembered that Danny wanted to try to talk to someone in Washington this morning.

"He is still in a meeting and unable to take my call," Danny replies with clear disgust in his voice.

"Then when the heck will we get some answers?"

"Lt. Denver promised to look into it. He went to see his CO at Naval Intelligence, and he promised to come back with good news," Danny tells her about where Denver disappeared to an hour ago.

"I hope he can get something done. I don't want Steve to wake up and find he is a prisoner. As I know the Navy they will cuff him as soon as he's awake," Doris says and shudders at the thought of her son being cuffed to the bed. If she knew that it had already happened, no force on earth would keep her out of her son's room.

H50 – H50 – H50

Steve can't say for sure what woke him up. His vision is still a little blurry, but he can see that he is not in the ICU anymore. There are still a lot of monitors attached, and a few tubes are sticking out of him. He is in an almost half-sitting position and looks down at his shoulder. Seeing the drainage tube sticking out of the bandages makes him slightly queasy.

His left arm is immobilized to his chest and he is bandaged up like a mummy. _Looks like the shoulder wound was not just a scratch._ He looks at his elevated leg, hanging in a contraption. There is slight pain radiating from his thigh down his leg and intensified under his knee. He now remembers vividly how he was repeatedly hit with a baseball bat. He's not quite sure who did that, only that the bat came down again and again. Mostly hitting him on the same spot. Thinking about it makes him groan in discomfort. Wiggling his toes hurt, and he stops all movement when the muscles in his upper leg threaten to cramp.

Steve still can only remember bits and pieces of what happened. He remembers getting arrested and talking to Danny later. But he still has no idea how he got shot, or what happened to Assante.

Major Hardy told him that blood loss, the concussion and the drugs he is on are messing with his head but that he should remember everything in time. He also told him his head injury isn't serious enough to cause permanent amnesia. Steve hopes that he is right about that.

Steve thinks about Danny, and recalls how mad he sounded in the conversation he overheard with Chin. That he doesn't even want to talk to him. Steve is deeply disappointed in his friend. He knew Danny would be mad, but hearing that he doesn't even want to see him anymore is a shock, and makes him sad. Incredibly so.

He needs to talk to the Governor and finalize his resignation. He has no idea what he will do in the future if he can't be Five-0 anymore. He thought he would go back to active duty, but somehow that isn't as appealing as it used to be. He loved his job with Five-0 and he doesn't really want to leave the islands. It is his home now. Not to mention that Catherine is stationed here. He was hoping their relationship would lead somewhere.

But if his second in command can't even talk to him, there is no way they would ever be able to work together again. If Danny doesn't trust him anymore, they can't work together. And what is even worse, he didn't just lose his work partner he also lost a great friend.

When Steve took on the assignment he hoped that Danny and his team would understand that lying to them was part of the job, and that it had nothing to do with him not trusting them. He had hoped they would understand how incredibly hard it was to keep up the charade for so long. It made him sick to do it, but it was what the job dictated. At the time he thought it was the right thing to do, but now he isn't so sure anymore.

Losing his friends and family is an incredibly high price he has to pay, and Steve is not sure if he will recover from that.

Steve suddenly becomes aware that someone entered the room. He must have zoned out for a few minutes. He looks around the dimly lit room and sees a blurry shape at the end of his bed. He tries to get his eyes to focus, but it's not easy.

After a moment though he succeeds and the blurry shape morphs into Captain Rodgers.

"How did you get in here?" Steve asks in alarm.

"Oh, you mean the petty officer guarding your door? I relieved him of duty. The perks of being a captain, I guess," Rodgers tells Steve as he steps closer.

"Why did you do it?" Steve tries to locate the button to call for help, but it fell off the bed and is out of his reach.

"Believe it or not, it was just for the money. I'm not delusional and believe in a greater good or any kind of crap like that. I did it just for the money. And Assante paid me really well."

"What do you want here?" Steve is not sure why Rodgers took the risk coming to the hospital. By now he could have been well away from the islands.

"You are the only link to the evidence they have. I'm sure you left all your files for your team to find, but without you," Rodgers pauses for effect. "It's all useless."

"That is just stupid. You will go down, regardless of me," Steve says and lies his aching head back. It's incredibly hard for him to concentrate and talk to the captain. His head is pounding wildly, and his vision is graying around the edges.

"Maybe. But I'll take my chances." Rodgers steps closer and reveals a syringe in his hands. "I have heard this drug won't be traceable, but I'm afraid the death is a bit painful. I'm sorry about that."

Steve wonders if he is sarcastic or not. But Steve's pretty sure that if he doesn't fight right now, he is the one who will be sorry. Before Steve can at least yell for help, Rodgers closes the last gap and punches Steve into the left shoulder.

The exploding pain takes Steve's breath away. He tries with all his might to stay conscious; he is panting and looks wide-eyed at Rodgers. This is not what he had expected.

Captain Rodgers obviously thinks that Steve is almost passed out from the pain, so that he can finish him off without much resistance.

Steve can feel that Rodgers is moving to grab the IV lines and is ready to inject whatever drug he has in his syringe. Steve doesn't have a lot of options. His left arm is immobilized to his chest; his left leg is in a sling, and his ankle is cuffed to the bed. That only leaves him with the use of his right arm.

But he is a SEAL, an almost incapacitated SEAL, but a SEAL none the less. Instead of trying to hit Rodgers, he grabs for the syringe and completely surprises the captain with his move. Steve gets his hand on the syringe and throws it as far as he can. Which of course is not very far at all.

Rodgers is obviously not amused about it. "Fine, have it your way," he mutters and without hesitation descends on Steve.

His first punch impacts again on the shoulder, directly followed by a fist to the head.

If Steve thought hitting the shoulder was painful, he now learns that a hit to the head throws him in a red haze of pain.

Steve blocks the next punch and holds on to Rodger's arm, fully knowing how ridiculous and unfair this fight is. There is no way that he will come out as the winner.

A very short struggle later, Steve is pulled up. Rodgers grabs him and pulls him up and off to the side of the bed. Steve struggles as best he can, but his only usable arm is held tightly by Rodgers, so he is mostly helpless.

The only hope Steve has is that someone will hear the ruckus they are making.

Steve's left leg drops out of the sling onto the bed, and he is sure the bone broke just by hitting the mattress. The pain in his thigh is unbelievable.

Rodgers has him now almost sitting in bed, which pulled the drainage out of the shoulder wound. The tube is lying on the bed, making a mess.

"Let him go!"

Steve hears a voice but is not really able to register who is coming to his aid. The pain running through his body is just too much to handle.

He doesn't feel the impact when Rodgers steps back and takes Steve with him over the edge of the bed. Steve very ungracefully hits the floor with a thud. But since he is still cuffed to the bed, he is suspended with his legs hanging in the air. His left leg is caught under his right one and is still half on the bed.

He hit his head when he dropped down on the floor, and blood is seeping out from a laceration on his right temple, creating a small puddle on the floor. The bandage on his shoulder is turning crimson; a small dot of blood is spreading rapidly. It's clear that he must have pulled his stitches that were holding the wound together.

But Steve doesn't register any of that; he had lost consciousness before he even hit the floor.

H50 – H50 – H50

* * *

_**Guess I was not quite done torturing poor Steve. ;-) So, any guesses who is the one coming to help Steve?**_


	16. Chapter 16

_**Thank you all so much for your patience. I know I was very late with the last two chapters. But I promise that is not gonna happen again. **_

_**Again I would like to thank all of you for reading, commenting and alerting this story. You have no idea what a thrill it is to get a review. Thank you all so much.**_

_**This is the final chapter of the story, but not the end of it. Huh? There will be an epilogue that has now turned into a multi chapter story. I will start posting it this Thursday. It's called Purple Heart and is mostly about Steve Pre-Five-0. But I promise the whole team is in it. Give it a try, you might like it.**_

_**Now about a completely different matter, Cokie and I wrote a story (P.I.T.A.) a while back, and many of you asked us to collaborate again. Well, we did. There will be another story from the two of us later this week. It's a coda to 3.17, and we hope you will enjoy it.**_

_**Before the chapter starts let me please say one more thing, because this is really important. Thank you Cokie. For everything.**_

* * *

**Treason – Chapter 16**

Steve has been listening to the voices arguing for a while now, and hopes that they both would leave soon. He tries to stay as still as possible and to keep his breathing even. The pain has been increasing in the last minutes, and he's not sure how much longer he can pretend to be asleep. But at the moment he doesn't think he can face anyone. First he needs to come to terms with what was going on.

He is kind of fuzzy about what had happened. He still remembers very vividly how Danny had left him at the brig, and the disappointment and astonishment on Danny's face is burned into Steve's memory. And he very clearly remembers what Danny had said to Chin. Hearing that had really hurt, and he was not ready to face his partner, or as he is already thinking of him, his former partner and friend.

He thinks that he had heard Danny a while ago, but wonders how that could be since Danny doesn't want anything to do with him anymore.

Now he can hear Kono and Chin quietly arguing about something he can't quite make out. He hopes they will leave soon, so that he can call the nurse to ask for some pain relief. His shoulder and leg are really hurting and he wouldn't say no to some nice drugs to help with the pain coursing through his body.

The drugs might even help alleviate the hammering in his head. That pain is really annoying and what is even worse, it is making him feel sick. If the pain doesn't stop soon he is sure he will upchuck whatever he might have in his stomach, and that for sure will not go unnoticed.

At the moment he is sure no one realized yet that he's been awake for the past few minutes now.

"Commander McGarrett, are you awake?"

_How the heck did the nurse sneak up like that?_

Steve can't help but react to her softly spoken words, and hopes she will send the others out of the room.

"That's it, Commander. Can you open your eyes for me?"

Steve had turned his head towards her when she first addressed him, but he still keeps his eyes stubbornly closed. Clenched shut is more like it. The pain in his leg is getting to him, and he can't keep the groan from slipping out.

"I'll give you something for the pain in a minute, but first you need to look at me."

Steve struggles to open his eyes, which also causes pain. This time it is his head when the light burns into his brain like a laser. But he is able to get the 'nurse' in front of him into focus rather quickly, and has to realize that a female doctor, a major, is standing in front of him. She looks at him with a frown on her face.

"Hi," Steve croaks out and wonders whose voice that was. Surely not his.

"Good to see you awake, Commander. Can you tell me your full name and rank?"

Steve looks at the major like she has lost her mind, but realized that she is just checking if he still has his marbles. "Lieutenant Commander Steven J. McGarrett, ma'am," Steve tells her with a low voice and tries to ignore his two team mates who had stepped a little closer to his bed.

"Very good. Tell me your birthday."

"March, 10, 1977."

"Good. Do you know where you are?"

Steve looks around the room and comes to the conclusion that he is still at the Army Medical Center. Like he was the last time he woke up.

"Tripler."

"Commander, do you remember how you got here?"

"Uh… not sure," Steve closes his eyes when another wave of pain slams into him. His shoulder just reminded him that he had been shot not that long ago. It had probably not been his best idea trying to move into a more comfortable position. But at least it showed him that he was no longer cuffed to the bed. That thought made his eyes snap open again.

"Rodgers. Wha' happen' to 'im?" _Wow, what the heck did she give me?_

"Try to relax, Commander. We will talk a bit more in a little while. Don't fight the drugs."

Steve tries to focus on her voice, but soon has to realize that he won't be able to stay awake for more than a few seconds. And his assessment is right, he falls back to sleep in a matter of seconds when the pain medication spreads through his body.

H50 – H50 – H50

Next time Steve comes to it is dark outside and the lights in the room are dimmed. He blinks his eyes open and looks at the ceiling, listening for any sounds. The only thing he can hear is someone softly snoring. Steve gets tired of listening to the snoring without seeing who it is, so he searches for the control of his bed and brings the headrest into a more upright position.

He couldn't have been more surprised to see who is lying in the bed across from him. _What the heck?_ Steve looks wide eyed at Danny, who is peacefully sleeping. Steve can clearly see that Danny's right leg is elevated just like his own left one. It is heavily bandaged and Steve wonders what had happened to him. Danny is almost sitting up and has an open book on his chest; he obviously fell asleep while reading.

"It's not nice to stare at people while they are sleeping," Danny's words startle Steve who had obviously dozed for a few minutes without even realizing it. "Took you long enough to wake up. Aren't you at least gonna say something?"

Steve can only watch as Danny moves into an even more upright position and stares right back at him. "I thought you…" Steve whispers.

"What?"

"What happened to you?" Steve deflects Danny's question for now.

"Oh, you mean the leg? One of your damn Navy buddies shot me," Danny tells him without even thinking.

"I'm sorry," Steve mumbles and avoids looking at Danny.

"What are you sorry, for? You didn't shoot me, you moron. Look at me. Steve, look at me!"

Steve looks up at hearing his friend almost commanding him to do so. What he sees almost takes his breath away; he has never seen his friend looking so guilty. "Danny?"

"Steve, I'm the one who's sorry."

Steve's face scrunches up in confusion. "What? I don't…"

"I am so sorry, Steve. For walking out on you, and doubting you. For being angry at you. But most of all, for shooting you."

"You shot me?" Steve asks baffled.

"You don't remember?"

"No. No, I don't," Steve whispers. "You shot me?" Steve asks again in wonder.

"Well, technically you stepped in the line of fire. But yeah, my bullet tore into your shoulder," Danny confesses. "Steve, I'm so sorry."

"How… I mean… Danny, you were so mad, you said you didn't want to see me again…"

"What? What are you talking about?" Danny pushes himself up a little higher in bed, and Steve has to smile seeing him becoming so animated.

"Please tell me how you got hurt," Steve deflects Danny's question for a later time. He doesn't want to talk about that right now. First he needs to know what happened to his friend.

"You remember that Rodgers came to your room?"

"Yeah, kind of." Steve remembers Rodgers hitting him and the unbearable pain that had exploded, "he hit my shoulder." Steve unconsciously touches his injured shoulder.

"Yeah, he did quite a bit of damage to it. Doris and I were coming back from the cafeteria when I saw Rodgers coming out of your room…"

Steve looks at his friend and listens to him recount what had led to Danny ending up in a hospital bed.

H50 – H50 – H50

_Lt. Denver can't believe his eyes when he enters Commander McGarrett's hospital room. Captain Rodgers, his CO for the past two years, who is now, of course on the most wanted list, is looming over the injured SEAL._

_He has him almost out of the bed, and it is obvious that Steve is only semi-conscious._

_"Rodgers! Let him go!" Denver calls out. _

_Of course he didn't expect Rodgers to pull Steve completely off the bed. Denver is shocked to see the commander drop bonelessly to the floor. He doesn't drop down completely, but is stopped by the cuff around his ankle. _

_Steve has the sheet tangled around his hip, and even with danger looming, Denver can't help but think about the similarities to the situation just two days ago as he walked in on a naked Steve being pinned to the floor._

_Now the commander is also almost naked, the difference today is that tubes are sticking in him, some of which are already ripped out or are in danger of being pulled out. There is no telling what injuries that would add to the already long list._

_Denver doesn't have time to think about what he is seeing. He is faced with a very angry and desperate captain who just realized that his plan to disappear went out the window._

_Lt. Denver is torn about what he should do. Steve is now almost completely on the floor with only his cuffed ankle suspended in the air; the cuff painfully digging into the already swollen ankle. His left leg had slipped out from under this right one, and is now hanging in an odd angle. The sheet is still tangled around his hips, dangerously close to slipping down. _

_Denver is very concerned seeing the bandage on his shoulder turning completely red. He realizes that Steve must be bleeding heavily and blood loss will soon be a critical issue again. For a second he wonders why no one has come rushing into the room yet, various monitors are wailing and beeping loudly. _

_They need to end this soon, so Steve can get help._

_He looks up at Rodgers. "Please let me help him," Denver says and moves closer to the bed. _

_"Stop," Rodgers calls out and underlines his order with a motion of his gun._

_Denver hasn't even realized that Rodgers had a gun. He does as he's told and looks at his former CO. "Just leave," he says to Rodgers and hopes that he will not suddenly snap and shoot his way out of the hospital. Denver hopes that the captain will realize that his best hope right now is to slip out of the hospital and disappear. _

_"Turn around and put your hands on your head."_

_"I'm not armed, Captain," Denver says as he turns and that is the last thought he has before he crumbles to the ground. _

_H50 – H50 – H50_

_Danny Williams looks at Doris and wonders if he had misjudged her in the beginning. Right now she was nothing but a concerned mother who feared for her son. They are on their way back to said son's hospital room, and Danny has still to find the courage to tell her that Steve is actually cuffed to the bed. Which will hopefully change in the next hour._

_He was finally able to get a competent person in D.C. on the line and the Captain he talked to promised to notify JAG and that Steve would be cleared as quickly as possible. The Captain told him that the SECNAV has confirmed Steve's story, and that the papers will be on their way shortly. Now all they have to do is wait for the orders releasing Steve from custody to reach the people responsible here in Honolulu. Which, unfortunately might still take a while._

_Danny prepares himself to tell Doris about the cuff around Steve's ankle as they exit the elevator. He was spared when they round the corner to the intermediate care unit. "What the heck?" Danny calls out. _

_"What?" Doris looks in alarm at Danny._

_"Go to Steve's room," he orders Doris, already on the run. "Rodgers was here," he calls over his shoulder as he draws his gun and pushes open the door to the hallway. He can just make out her startled cry for help when the door closes behind him. _

_He hopes that his friend is okay, but right now he can't think of that and needs to concentrate on the task at hand. He sweeps his gun up and carefully listens for any sounds. It's not hard to hear Rodgers running downstairs. _

_Danny follows him as quickly as he can, always keeping close to the wall. He has no desire to catch a bullet if Rodgers decided to shoot at him._

_It takes them only a few moments to reach the ground floor, and Danny is worried that Rodgers is desperate enough to take innocent bystanders as hostages. He needs to end this without any bloodshed. _

_"Rodgers! You can't escape," Danny calls out to him when the Navy man reaches the door that leads directly to the parking lot. A place, Danny knows, will be full of people at this time of day._

_Instead of an answer, Danny has to dodge a bullet that ricochets off the handrail and embeds only a few inches next to where he was just standing. Damn. He can already hear sirens in the background and MPs storming down the stairs. At least he has back up, but that is not helping right now. _

_Rodgers just pushed out the door and Danny hurries to go after him. He pushes open the door and instantly ducks to the right, running for cover to the nearest row of parked cars. Danny looks around for Rodgers, but he is nowhere to be seen. _

_The detective stays low and tries to use every cover that presents itself, but he has a very bad feeling about the outcome. Danny moves swiftly along the parked cars, and suddenly spots Rodgers._

_He is kneeling next to a van and is just about to climb in when Danny spots him. "Rodgers! Five‑0! Freeze!"_

_But Rodgers does anything but freeze; he swirls around and aims his gun at Danny. Their shots are heard as one. Rodgers falls down, hit in the chest, and Danny cries out as his leg gives out on him. He falls to the ground and looks in astonishment at the growing pool of blood. His lower leg is a bloody mess. _

_"Danny!" He hears Chin calling him, and a moment later Chin kneels next to him. "Ah, damn."_

_"Chin, what about Steve? Rodgers was in his room," Danny pants out as the pain suddenly hits him._

_"I don't know, Danny. Kono went up there," Chin tells him as he cuts open the pant leg._

_Danny's shin is a mess. Part of the bone is sticking out; the bullet clearly shattered at least one bone. The bleeding has almost stopped, which is good, at least there is no ripped artery. But the leg doesn't look good, and one doesn't need to be a doctor to know that this is a serious injury._

_The next few minutes are just a blur for Danny. At some point he is placed on a gurney and before he even knows it he is in the ER, his clothes are cut off him, he is stuck with needles and IVs and is rushed to the OR. He barely registers that someone is talking to him, he tries to ask about Steve, but before he can form a coherent sentence his surroundings are fading out._

_H50 – H50 – H50_

_Doris McGarrett silently opens the door to the hospital room where the two injured men are laying. She doesn't want to disturb Danny in case he's sleeping. But peeking around the door she can see that he's awake and sitting up in bed._

_"Hi, Danny," she greets him as she enters the room._

_Doris smiles at the detective and walks over to her son's bed, "Steve, good morning," she says as she strokes his hair back and gently gives him a kiss on the forehead; careful of his bruises._

_Of course there is no answer from the unconscious person in the bed. For two days now she is waiting for a response to her ministrations, but so far no reaction has come from Steve._

_"His doctor said Steve should wake up any time now," Danny tries to reassure Doris after seeing her looking a bit disappointed._

_"I know. I talked to him just a few minutes ago. He said that Steve was doing well, and they expect him to come fully awake in the next few hours." Doris looks at Danny and frowns at what she sees. "Danny, are you feeling alright?" She asks as she settles down in the chair next to his bed._

_"Yeah, I'm good."_

_"Then why do you look like you're ready to murder someone?" Doris asks him and musters him with a critical eye, like only a mother can._

_"I'm not."_

_"Danny, you're shooting daggers out of your eyes. I'm just not sure in what direction." She watches him closely and is kind of shocked to see that he can't help but look at Steve. Still with that murderous look in his eyes. "You've got to be kidding me, Danny. You are still mad at Steve?"_

_"Uh… I…," completely uncharacteristically Danny isn't sure what to say. Isn't sure how to explain what he is feeling._

_"Now you listen to me, Danny. I don't know what your problem is, and frankly I don't really care. Steve did nothing wrong, he did his job. He is an officer of the Navy; he took an oath to follow orders. He cannot choose which to obey," Doris takes a deep breath to calm down. "Danny, when Steve was little I could always tell when he was making things up. Telling a lie, even little boy lies, made him almost physically sick. He was really not good at it," Doris says and has to smile thinking about her little Stevie trying to cover up something he did and didn't want his mother to find out._

_"Steve would never lie to his friends; he is just too honest for that. Don't mistake what he did to keep his cover for telling a lie to his friends. If it is necessary for his job or for his friends, he can lie with the best of them. But that is not something that is easy for him. He hates it. But he learned to lie in your face; it's a survival skill in his line of work."_

_"I never suspected anything," Danny whispers, and is still not sure if he is mad for being lied to or for not detecting the lie. Some detective he is. That really bugs him. _

_"Danny, I know it is hard to keep these two things separate. Look at it this way. Imagine an actor having a passionate love scene with a girl he barely knows. And at home sits his wife with three kids. She is in the same position as you are. She knows that her husband is not cheating on her, but still she watches him making out with another woman."_

_"Are you saying I'm Steve's **wife**?" _

_"This is what you take out of this?" Doris cries out. _

_Doris shakes her head at her son's partner; they can be both so stubborn. "Think about what I told you, Danny. I will be back later." She takes another look at Steve and leaves the two men alone again._

_H50 – H50 – H50_

_Danny looks over at his still sleeping partner. Unconscious partner is more like it, Danny thinks. He thinks back to what Doris had said to him a little while ago. He just can't get her words out of his head. She really made an impact._

_Danny had believed her when she said that Steve hated to lie to his friends, and he could even picture Steve feeling almost physically sick by telling those lies. He had always said that Steve was too honest for his own good._

_He had realized that he was mostly mad because he thought he knew his friend inside and out, but still he hadn't suspected anything about Steve working on a side project. He was even beginning to doubt his detective skills, but Doris had told him that he'd be ridiculous. Danny is not so sure about that, but at the moment he takes her word for it. Otherwise he would go nuts._

_Danny thinks back to the moment that was still heavily sitting on his conscience, the moment his bullet tore through Steve. The moment his friend fell back, hit by his bullet. Danny thinks about how easily Steve could have died by his hand. He shudders at the thought. Friendly fire was always a nightmare, but shooting your best friend really takes the cake._

_Danny still has no idea how he will ever be able to make that right. In his defense he can argue that he hadn't aimed at Steve and that his friend had stepped into the line of fire, but that knowledge doesn't really help to ease the guilt. Seeing Steve in so much pain on the video feed and then later live on the ship, was propelling his guilt into new dimensions._

_The longer Steve stayed unconscious the less mad he was at him. Danny only wants him to wake up now, so they can work out the issues that might be between them. He knows that Steve is disappointed in him. He could hear it in his voice when they talked on the phone. And Danny is sure that Steve has it in his head that none of his team would trust him after his work with Naval Intelligence. Danny even fears that their leader has some stupid idea of quitting his job._

_When Danny first thought of that, he actually got really angry. And he had wished his friend would wake up already, so that he could give him a piece of his mind about any stupid ideas. But Steve didn't do him the favor of waking up; he slept on and left Danny to stew in his anger and confusion._

_It needed Doris to set his head straight, at least on the anger issue. His anger at Steve is fading slowly but surely._

_"Really, Steve, you can wake up. I'm not mad at you anymore. Just wake up, okay?" Danny feels a little silly talking to his deeply sleeping friend, but he secretly hopes that he might hear him._

_He looks again at his friend, but just like the last 48 hours there is no movement or any kind of reaction from Steve. He sleeps on, oblivious to Danny's struggle._

_H50 – H50 – H50_

_"Three days," Danny calls out in frustration. "It's been three days now. Why the hell isn't he waking up?"_

_"Detective, please calm down. You have to lie still." Major Hardy looks at his very agitated patient, and tries to stop him from moving. "You will only aggravate your injury."_

_Danny takes a few deep breaths and tries to calm down, not because he was told to, but because every little movement sent daggers of pain up his leg. His right leg is still hanging in the air, supported by a sling similar to the one Steve's leg is hanging in. Only difference is that Steve's femur is only partially broken, and Danny's shin had been shattered by the bullet Rodgers managed to fire three days ago. It is now being held together by a plate and a lot of screws._

_Danny looks at his doctor and repeats his question, "Why isn't he waking up?" That is a question he has asked a dozen times in the last three days, ever since he woke up after having surgery on his shattered leg and finding himself in a bed right next to Steve._

_"As I told you before," Major Hardy explains, "Commander McGarrett suffered severe head trauma. Hitting the floor caused a small bleed inside his skull, which caused pressure on the brain. It is really very simple; since the added blood needs space, and the skull isn't giving any, the pressure of the added volume is pressing toward the inside… on the brain."_

_"But you said the pressure was down, and that he should wake up."_

_"He should," the doctor agrees. "But head injuries are tricky. Some people are even conscious the whole time; others are almost comatose for days, or even weeks. Steve will wake up when he is ready," Major Hardy explains to Danny. He is slowly getting tired of this conversation; this is not the first time he has told Williams about his partner's condition. "If it is any consolation, Commander McGarrett is not deeply unconscious. He reacts very well to pain stimuli, and shows signs of waking. He is just not quite there yet. But he is healing nicely; his infection is almost completely gone. We took the drainage out of his shoulder, and the therapist already performed the first movements to the joint. His kidneys are working almost at a hundred percent. His leg and ankle will heal in time. So, relax and just give him the time he needs. There is no reason to believe that he won't wake up soon."_

_"You said that yesterday…"_

_"Yes, Danny. And if I have to, I will tell you again tomorrow. You have to be patient," Hardy tells him as he turns to attend to his other patient in the room. The one they were talking about._

_Steve looks like he is simply sleeping. He looks completely relaxed, and his breathing is deep and even. But he is not **just** sleeping. He almost died. Again. When Doris had stormed into his room, she had been shocked at what she found. _

_Steve had been rushed into surgery where they had repaired the damage to the shoulder. He had lost a dangerously large amount of blood. His right ankle that had been cuffed to the bed and had held almost his full body weight was badly sprained and bruised. His left femur had a partial crack in it that had been made worse due to the abuse he had suffered. But the worst was that he had hit his head again. There had been an increased pressure on the brain and they had feared for a time that they needed to surgically relieve the pressure. Luckily it hadn't come to that._

H50 – H50 – H50

"Rodgers shot you?"

"Yeah. He's dead, by the way. He died on the operating table," Danny tells his friend. Looking over at him he can see that Steve has gone pale and has closed his eyes. "Hey, Steve. You okay?"

"I'm sorry, Danny." Steve opens his eyes and looks at Danny, "I'm sorry that you got hurt. That is what I tried to avoid. I didn't want any of you involved. I'm sorry." Steve lays his head back, and tries to get past the hammering pain in his head. It had gotten worse in the last few minutes.

The pain is pounding to the rhythm of his heart, in unison with the stabbing pain in his shoulder and leg. Even breathing started to hurt a few minutes ago. He tries to lift his head again to tell Danny that he's okay, but it's hard to concentrate on that task. The sounds and sights are kind of fading out again. He realizes that Danny is still calling out to him, but he simply can't open his eyes again or lift his head. Steve can feel that someone is prodding him, probably the doctor again, and when she lifts his eyelid the pain in his head multiplies and he's out like the proverbial light.

H50 – H50 – H50

Steve wakes up to an empty room. He looks around and wonders if he dreamed the episode from earlier. He wonders why he is alone, why neither his mother, any of his team, nor Catherine are sitting next to his bed. _Where the heck is Cath anyway?_

He was never left alone like this when he was in the hospital. Not even back when he was still an active SEAL. Someone had always been there when he woke up. _Yeah, but back then the people weren't mad as hell at you._ That voice in the back of his head is back.

Steve looks around for the call button, but before he can actually press it the door opens and reveals the major from earlier. She smiles when she sees that he's awake, "Commander, I didn't expect you to be awake. How do you feel?" She had stepped closer to his bed and is now holding his chart in her hands.

"Um, not too bad," Steve answers truthfully. He is really not feeling too bad. His head still hurts, but his shoulder is bearable, just as his leg.

"That's good. I switched you to a different pain medication, they are not narcotic anymore. Let me know if they are not strong enough."

"Uh huh."

"Your partner will be back soon, he is getting some tests right now," Major Khan informs him. "I hope you don't mind sharing the room with him?" She doesn't look at Steve, for her it was more a rhetorical question.

"About that—"

"Yes?"

Steve tries to move into a more upright position, but has to stop when pain flares up in his shoulder. He abandons his intention and looks up at the major. "We are not on the best terms right now, and I would appreciate it if you could place him into another room." There, he said it. Steve feels like a prick trying to get out of the confrontation like this, but right now he doesn't feel like facing his accusing friends. "In fact, I would greatly appreciate it if you could keep all of Five-0 out of here."

"What?"

"The Governor's Task—"

"I know who they are, who you are. Commander, why don't you want to see your team?" Major Khan looks at him strangely. "But if you insist I will keep them out of your room."

"Thank you. Can you please get me a phone?"

"Yes, of course," the major tells him with a smile. She might not be happy about his decision, but she can't risk him being upset right now. His head injury is still worrying her; that is the only reason she agreed with his plea. "Now, let me check your wound."

Fifteen minutes later Steve is sporting new bandages on his shoulder. It is no longer completely wrapped and his arm is lying loosely on his chest. Which is a huge improvement to before when his arm had been completely immobilized. "Remember not to move your arm before your therapist talks to you."

"Okay," is Steve's short answer. It had hurt like hell when the major moved his shoulder to get the bandages off. The pain is only slowly returning to the bearable throbbing from when he woke up.

"Try to sleep some more, Commander. I will check on you again in a little while." Major Khan packs her supplies and makes her way out of the room.

Steve watches her leave and hopes that she will keep her word. He moves his arm into a more comfortable position, and understands immediately what she meant with not moving his arm. Pain shoots all the way down to his fingers and leaves him wanting the narcotic drugs back.

"Fuck, don't do that again," Steve whispers and closes his eyes to ride out the pain. It only takes a few minutes for him to fall back to sleep. While doing so he misses seeing his mother entering his room.

H50 – H50 – H50

Doris looks down at her sleeping son; frowning at the obvious pain lines on his face. She had talked to his doctor and learned about his wish not to see any of his team. She came here to set his head straight, but now seeing him being in pain even in his sleep, her resolve melts a little.

She remembers how scared she had been when she had entered the hospital room, seeing Lieutenant Denver unconscious on the floor. And Steve… just thinking about it makes her tear up. She can't help it, but seeing her son hanging unconscious from a cuff around a bruised and battered ankle… it was just a picture she couldn't get out of her head. She still sees the bloody bandages and the small pool of blood under his head.

Doris had seen quite a lot in her life, and she had done brutal and merciless acts to other human beings. But none of them were her son. It didn't matter that he was a grown man, a SEAL and the leader of a special task force. He was still just her Stevie. She had missed twenty years of his life, many people not understanding her reasons, her son included. But she was not willing to miss another minute.

She had been furious at Captain Rodgers, and it was his 'luck' that he was already dead. That way he didn't have to face Doris McGarrett's wrath. She had to chuckle a little at her almost hysterical behavior after finding Steve on the floor. Forgotten was all her training, in that moment she was just a mother losing her only son.

_Speaking of son_, Doris thinks as Steve struggles to open his eyes, emerging from his short nap.

"Steve?" She softly calls out to him.

"Mom?"

She watches as he finally manages to open his eyes, and she is happy to see them bright and clear as he looks at her. "How do you feel?"

"Ugh. Remind me not to move my arm, or shoulder. Or leg for that matter," Steve tells her with a grin. He is obviously feeling better.

"Steven, we need to talk."

"Yes, we do. I still have no idea what happened after you climbed the ladder," Steve says and is happy to remember most of what happened on the ship. A lot of what happened in the last few days is still hazy, but he remembers that he sent his mother and the kids up the ladder, and he remembers his fight with Assante.

"Nothing much, really. The Coast Guard was practically waiting for us. They took us off the ship and then went in to look for you and assist in the raid."

"Are the kids alright?"

"Yeah, they are absolutely fine. The Navy provided a youth therapist for them, I'm sure they will be okay. Gloria would like for them to stay here, I promised her you would talk to the Governor and—"

"MOM!"

"What? She saved your life, Steven. The least you could do is asking Denning for help."

"She is nuts, mom. You have no idea what she did to me… I… She…"

"I know," Doris softly says. "I have seen the videos. And I'm so sorry for what you had to go through. For what those people did to you. And I was sitting right across from you when you were tortured, in case you have forgotten." Doris pauses when she sees him flinch at the mention. "I know all that, Steve. But still I want to help her, and you can do that. She only did all that for her two young children. Please understand that."

"I do," Steve answers and he already knows that he will try to help her. But he hates to be manipulated like this. "I'll see what I can do."

"That's all we're asking."

"We?"

"Gloria and I had a long talk, we were in similar situations. You know?"

"Huh." Steve closes his eyes when the guy in his head starts to beat in a faster rhythm again.

"Steve, you okay?"

"Headache," Steve says without bothering to open his eyes.

"Do you want me to call a nurse?"

"No, it will lessen in a minute or so. It comes and goes." Steve hates concussions. He knows that he suffered more than a mild one; that he was lucky to have no brain damage. Instead he got away with minimal damage. The headache is a small price to pay.

"Good. Now listen to me," she waits until she is sure that he is able to concentrate on her again. "Dr. Khan told me that you don't want to see any—"

"Mom, I'm not going to talk to you about that," he interrupts her little speech.

"We are not going to talk about it, you are just going to listen," Doris almost laughs at the face he is making. This is a voice he hasn't heard in a long time, but still knows that his mother has something to say to him.

"Okay," Steve answers. He simply doesn't have the energy to fight her about this. So he will just listen and get it over with.

"I know what your problem is," Doris starts.

"Oh really?"

"Yes, Steven, really. Now shut up and listen," she says with a smile. She completely ignores his grumbling and continues. "You think that your team and especially Danny are mad at you. That they don't trust you anymore, and that they don't want to work with you anymore. Am I close?"

Not hearing an answer is answer enough for her. "Steve let me ask you something. Do you think you did something wrong?"

"No. I did my job, nothing more. But they don't see it like that. Mom, I lied to them. For seven months. I lied to them for seven months. I hated every second of it, but I had no choice."

"I know that. And they do too."

"NO. Danny said he can't work with me anymore, that he doesn't trust me, that he doesn't even want to see me anymore," it was hard for Steve to say that.

"What on earth gives you that idea?"

"I heard him talking to Chin," Steve starts to tell her what he remembered of that night.

"Steve, Danny was not here that night. And neither was Chin," Doris assures him after she listened to his tale.

"But… I heard them," Steve remembers Danny's exact words, and how they had hurt.

"Steve, you must have been dreaming. I swear to you they were not here, and Danny never said such a thing. I grant you, Danny was mad. But he saw reason and realized that he was not really mad at you, but moreso that he didn't realize what was going on. He's mad at himself as much as he was with you."

"He's not mad anymore?"

"No. Actually, he is devastated because he shot you."

"I know, he told me that he shot me, but I can't remember that. There is a lot I can't remember," Steve tells her. "Mom, where is Cath? Is she mad at me?"

"What? NO, will you stop that. No one is mad at you; they are all just really worried. What the hell is the matter with you? This must be the concussion talking," Doris says under her breath.

"Then where is she?"

"She is still in San Diego. She will be back in the morning. She has called every few hours to ask how you were. That woman really loves you," Doris has to grin seeing the smile on her son's face. "So, can I tell Khan that you are willing to share your room with Danny?"

"Yeah, guess so."

"Good. I will tell her. I'll go and see Gloria for a while, but I will be back later." Doris stands up and kisses her son good-bye.

"I'll be here," Steve grumbles, and watches her leave. "Guess I'm not going anywhere anytime soon." Steve looks at his hurting legs and wonders how serious the injuries are. He hasn't learned about his various injuries yet, the bullet to the shoulder is obvious, but he has no idea how his leg or more importantly his ankle fared. He can't remember injuring his ankle. He can still feel the impact of the bat on his leg again and again, but was pretty sure that he didn't hurt his ankle. But looking at his elevated legs and the bandages on the right ankle, not even to mention the pain every movement causes, there must be something seriously wrong with it.

And he needs to call the Governor, who will probably already have his resignation on his desk. If his team is still willing to work with him there is no reason to resign his post. Which he didn't really want to do in the first place, but he thought it was the right thing to do.

Now he realizes that it was a pretty stupid move on his part. His thoughts are interrupted by two orderlies wheeling Danny's bed into the room. Steve looks at his friend and tentatively smiles at him, hoping that his mother's words were true, that Danny really isn't mad anymore.

"Hey."

"Hey, yourself. Nice to see you awake. How do you feel?" Danny asks when the orderlies left.

"Not too bad. How is your leg?"

"Broken."

"Danny, I'm sorry—"

"Stop it. Don't start with that again. Listen, Steve, I was really mad at you, and I'm sorry for that. But I realized that I have no right to be angry with you. You did your job, and I hate to admit it, but your mom explained a lot to me. I know that you only lied to me because the job dictated it, but that you would never deceive or betray me. I'm sorry I thought otherwise. That was stupid and misguided."

Steve can only look open mouthed at Danny. "Did you just say you were stupid and misguided?"

"What? No, you moron. I said my actions were stupid and… you know what, I think I like being mad at you better," Danny tells his friend, but he does so with laughter in his voice and a smile on his face.

They both know that they will have to talk about this again in length, but not now. Now they need to enjoy friendly banter and their usual verbal insults. And when they will leave the hospital in a week or so, it will be together and with their friendship intact.

H50 – H50 – H50

**Thanks again, and check back on Thursday, for the first chapter of a new story.**


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